We The Church, Part 1

Okay, we're going to start in a somewhat unusual way.

Would you open up your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 34?

Ezekiel 34 · chapter mention

Now, here's how to find it.

Just open your Bible to the middle.

You're probably in a psalm, and then just start going right.

And you'll see, like, Isaiah, and then you'll bump into Jeremiah,

and then you may see lamentations fly by real fast,

and then there is the prophecy of Ezekiel.

Now, we're going to end up spending most of our time this morning in John chapter 10,

John 10 · chapter mention

looking at the Good Shepherd.

But in order to understand what's going on here,

I want to read you sections of Ezekiel 34.

This was written 600 plus years before Jesus spoke these words in John 10.

Ezekiel 34.

The word of the Lord came to me.

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.

Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds,

Thus says the Lord God,

Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves.

Should not shepherds feed the sheep?

You eat the fat.

You clothe yourselves with the wool.

You slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.

The weak you have not strengthened.

The sick you have not healed.

The injured you have not bound up.

The strayed you have not brought back.

The lost you have not sought.

And with force and harshness you have ruled them.

So they were scattered because there was no shepherd.

And they became food for all the wild beasts.

My sheep were scattered.

They wandered all over the mountains and on every high hill.

My sheep were scattered over the face of the earth with none to search for or seek for them.

Verse 11.

For thus says the Lord God,

Behold, I, I myself, will search for my sheep

and will seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered.

So will I seek out my sheep.

And I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries

and will bring them into their own land.

And I will feed them.

14.

I will feed them with good pasture.

They will, shall lie down in good grazing land and on rich pasture.

They shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

Verse 15.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep.

And I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.

I will seek the lost.

And I will bring back the strayed.

And I will bind up the injured.

And I will strengthen the weak and fat.

And the fat and strong I will destroy.

I will feed them in justice.

Verse 23.

And I will set up over them one shepherd.

My servant David.

And he shall feed them.

He shall feed them and be their shepherd.

And I, the Lord, will be their God.

And my servant David shall be prince among them.

I am the Lord.

I have spoken.

Verse 30.

And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them.

And that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God.

Verse 31.

And you are my sheep.

Human sheep of my pasture.

And I am your God, declares the Lord God.

In John 10.

Jesus declares himself to be that shepherd.

Gathering himself a flock of human sheep.

This morning, we're getting back into our series on the church.

And in verse, chapter 10 of John, verse 16, you could sum up this two-part series, this Sunday and next series, by saying,

One flock, one shepherd.

The one flock of God has one shepherd who is God.

So, last week, we started a study of the church.

And I'm not sure if you remembered this, but here's how I define the church.

The church is the blood-bought people of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, on mission for Christ.

And our desire, over the next two months, is to think about the church the way that God thinks about the church.

To feel about the church the way that Jesus feels about his church.

To prioritize the church the way the Holy Spirit prioritizes his church.

And so, generally speaking, the New Testament offers a variety of different images of the blood-bought people of God.

And we're going to hit a bunch of them.

The Bible talks about the church as a body.

It talks about the church as a bride, a holy temple, a royal priesthood, a family, a city set on a hill.

In fact, one scholar, he has identified at least 100 distinct and different images of the church in the New Testament.

And many of those images get pulled in together.

Each image has its own unique contribution to our understanding of the blood-bought people of God.

And this morning, we're going to look at one particular image, the flock of God.

The blood-bought people of God.

But, we're going to do it in two parts.

We're going to look at, this morning, the shepherd of the flock.

And then, next Sunday, we're going to emphasize the flock itself.

Now, it's going to be overlap because this image, they're both together in John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

And you'll see how this shakes out.

But when it comes to the flock, the New Testament has a lot to say about it.

Acts 20, 28, Paul gathers the elders of the Ephesian church.

And he tells them, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock who Jesus bought with his blood.

1 Peter 5, shepherd the flock that is among you.

Hebrews 13, 20 and 21, Brian Winnington is going to close our service with a benediction that talks about the chief shepherd, Jesus.

Matthew 26, 31 through 40, Jesus teaches on the final judgment.

And he likens it to a shepherd who separates his sheep from the goats.

John chapter 21, Jesus is reinstating Peter.

John 21 · chapter mention

Do you remember this?

Do you love me?

Yes, I love you.

Feed my lambs.

Do you love me?

Yes, I love you.

Feed my sheep.

Do you love me?

You know I do.

Feed my sheep.

This morning, we're going to look at John chapter 10, where we will see Jesus describing himself as the good shepherd.

John 10 · chapter mention

And he's going to talk about the people he laid his life down for, his sheep.

He's talking about the church.

So the point of this passage is to show a particular relationship between Jesus and his church.

The shepherd and his flock.

So in chapter 10, verse 16, we read, so there will be one flock, one shepherd.

And so we can summarize this all by saying one flock, one shepherd.

That's what John 10 is about.

But if you want to get into a little more, we're saying this.

We are one flock following our one shepherd.

And if you want to press it a little bit more, we are one united flock following our one exclusive shepherd.

There is none like him.

And to that end this morning, I want to look at six truths about Jesus, the good shepherd, that makes him one of a kind.

And we can't help as we look at the good shepherd, learn some things about us, his flock as well.

The first truth about Jesus, the good shepherd, is his authority.

Lou didn't read this this morning, but I want to bring it to your attention.

Chapter 10, verses 1 through 5, Jesus says,

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way,

that man is a thief and a robber, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

To him the gatekeeper opens.

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

But when he has brought out all of his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

What is this all about?

Well, first thing you need to know is the you in verse 1.

Truly, truly, I say to you, it has to do with what happened in chapter 9.

Jesus is talking to a crowd of Jews, specifically to Pharisees.

And these Pharisees were claiming to see Jesus for who he was, but in fact, they were blind to who Jesus really was.

And what 1 through 5 of chapter 10 is, is about Jesus' legitimate authority and access to the sheep.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold.

Now, when you hear the word sheepfold, I don't know what's going through your mind.

So let's just help paint a picture of what a sheepfold in the first century, ancient Near East, typically look like.

Well, it is this protected pen, oftentimes in a courtyard, in a village.

And oftentimes it's using the wall of a house, kind of, or just kind of an exterior wall of a village.

And from that, there's this thatchwork of sticks that were built together and woven together in order to form a sheep pen, a sheepfold.

And what that was for, was for shepherds, remember this is an agrarian economy back in the day, there were sheep herders.

And they would put their sheep in the sheep pen by night in order to protect them and keep them.

Now, that sheep pen typically had an entryway.

Sometimes it had a door, sometimes it didn't.

So it wasn't unusual for shepherds to hire a gatekeeper by night to make sure no ill will was done to the sheep.

One of the things about John chapter 10 is that there is this, Jesus weaves a contrast through this section.

John 10 · chapter mention

And it has to do with who he's speaking to.

He's speaking to the false shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees.

And so there's this contrast that he starts building in verse 1.

I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in another way, that man is a thief and robber.

And otherwise, another way of saying, hey, if you see somebody climbing into a sheepfold, not through the entryway but going over the side, they're not legit.

They don't have any business dealing with the sheep.

And then in verse 2, he says, but the one who enters by the gate, he's the true shepherd of the sheep.

He's legit.

He's drawing a contrast to the people he's talking to.

And then in verse 3, we see the kind of validation of it.

Verse 3, the first beginning up to him, the gatekeeper opens.

The gatekeeper recognizes that this shepherd is the legit shepherd.

He lets him have access and authority to the sheep.

And then the kind of piece de la resistance, the thing that validates that this is the shepherd of the sheep above all.

The sheep.

The sheep.

The sheep hear his voice.

So imagine a shepherd walking up to a sheep pen, greeted by the gatekeeper.

As soon as those sheep in the pen hear his voice, they're turning heads.

Their ears are kind of moving towards the shepherd because they recognize his voice.

The sheep hear his voice.

They turn to him.

He calls his own sheep by name.

Did you catch that?

His own sheep by name.

The likely picture is of a shepherd calling his own sheep by name from a sheepfold that has other sheep in it.

He's calling select sheep out.

The one that belongs to him.

The ones that he calls out by name.

Mike, come to me.

And he leads them out.

And when he brought them all out of his own out, he goes before them.

And the sheep follow him for they know his voice.

Now if you're familiar with western sheep herding practices, maybe you watch the movie Pig.

Maybe you like Australian sheep dogs.

And so you watch YouTube videos of Australian sheep herders herding their sheep.

They, western sheep herders, they herd from behind.

They drive their sheep.

But in the ancient Near East and in the Middle East today, shepherds herd their sheep by going out in front of them.

Because they recognize the shepherd's voice.

And so the picture here is of a shepherd leading his sheep.

Notice in verse 5, they don't follow a stranger because that stranger is not legit.

So he is too illegitimate.

So they quit him.

Too illegit and they quit.

Got it.

But when it comes to the shepherd, the good shepherd, his sheep recognize his voice.

Now this raises a little bit of a theological piece in the Gospel of John.

Jesus is talking about these sheep as being his own.

And he calls them out by name.

If you flip in the Gospel of John back to chapter 6, verse 37 through 40.

Finally, Jesus says some very interesting things about the people that God the Father has entrusted to him.

Jesus says, all the Father gives me, speaking of people, will come to me.

And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.

God has given Jesus a people.

And they're going to come to him.

And he will never cast them out.

They'll never perish.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me, the Father.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing, none of all that he has given me.

He's talking about people.

But raise it up on the last day.

God the Father has given God the Son a people that God the Son is going to lay his life down for, call out,

and he's going to shepherd them all the way to the end.

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.

And I will raise him up on the last day.

Those who belong to Jesus believe in Jesus.

So the sheep who hear his voice are the very human sheep the Father has given the shepherd's son,

of whom he will lose none.

Gather all to himself.

Here's the point of what we're seeing.

This is the point Jesus is making.

He's talking to these Jews who don't like him.

And he's saying, whether you recognize me or not, as the Christ, it's besides the point.

Because the people who need to understand and hear me are my sheep.

And they will hear my voice and respond to my call.

Well, I'm the legitimate shepherd of Ezekiel 34.

Move over.

So there's a people, God the Father has given God the Son,

whom Jesus will call out from the world to follow him.

And I'm going to unpack that next week a little bit more.

But what you need to see here is what Jesus is developing in John 10

is a very interesting way to talk about the relationship between the master and his disciples.

The shepherd-sheep relationship is a very helpful way to illustrate

the authoritative and affectionate relationship between master and disciple.

Jesus and all of the blood-bought.

So what we see here is that Jesus is the legitimate shepherd.

He has authority over his flock.

One flock, one shepherd obeying the voice of their one exclusive shepherd, Jesus.

Now, I'm going to put in a little fast forward.

We're going to start moving a little faster.

The second truth that I want you to see that makes Jesus one of a kind

is his personal knowledge of his flock.

We see that in verse 3.

He says,

To him the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice,

and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

God the Father has given God the Son of people, right?

Now, the mistake we can make is thinking that God has just given this mob of people

with kind of blurry faces,

and God's kind of like,

Well, I got this mob of people that nobody really knows.

In Revelation chapter 7,

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

this mob of people who Jesus laid his life down for

is a multitude without number from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

But here Jesus is saying,

They're not blurry faces to me.

I know them each by name.

Which means he knows you by name.

If you are a follower of Jesus,

if you've been called out,

if you know him as your good shepherd,

he knows you by name.

He knows everything about you.

Have you ever experienced someone,

you meet someone for the first time,

you say your name once,

and then that person,

the next time you see him or her,

they got your name.

They know you.

It's so dignifying.

It's so welcoming.

It has this sense of that person took the time

to really concentrate on learning my name,

and that person wants to know me.

That name,

Jesus knowing your name,

means he knows you through and through.

If you look down to verses 14 and 15,

we read this.

I'm the good shepherd, Jesus says.

I know my own,

and my own know me.

We'll come back to that my own know me next week.

I know my own.

So is Jesus here just kind of saying,

I know the facts about you.

I know their name,

their height, weight, IQ.

I know their income.

Blah-ba-dee, blah-ba-dee, blah-ba-dee.

He knows that.

Is that,

is that all?

Look at verse 15,

because in verse 15,

Jesus tells us

the kind of knowing with which he knows us.

In verse 15 he says,

just as the Father knows me,

and I know the Father.

I know my own,

and my own know me,

just as the Father knows me,

and I know the Father.

He's comparing

his knowledge of us

with his knowledge

in relationship to the Father,

and the Father's relationship to him.

A relationship between

God the Father,

and God the Son,

that's marked by a loving relationship

of mutuality.

They belong to each other.

There's clear distinctions

in their personhood,

clear distinctions in authority.

We have the Father and the Son,

but there is a fullness of affection.

A loving relationship.

His knowing us

is him loving us.

Loving all that we are.

He knows us personally.

So much though,

not only knows us each by name,

he loves us each thoroughly.

If you look down to verse 27

of chapter 10,

Jesus says,

my sheep hear my voice,

and I know them,

and they follow me.

Jesus isn't describing

a strictly professional relationship

between shepherd and sheep.

Jesus is describing

a personal,

intimate,

loving affection

between master and disciple.

Here's what this means.

He knows you.

He knows exactly where you're at.

And he loves you where you are.

He loves you.

And not just does he love you,

he loves us as a church.

The good shepherd loves us,

his people.

And not just this local church,

the universal church,

all of his flock,

he loves his people.

So when we are kind of getting

on the outset of a search

for a worship leader,

we have confidence

that our good shepherd

loves us,

and he knows what we need.

He goes before us.

He personally knows

each and every one

of his own blood-bought sheep

by name,

including you.

One flock,

one shepherd.

We are one united flock

following our one

exclusive shepherd

who lovingly knows us

each by name.

The third truth

is that flows out

of what we just read

about Jesus,

his loving knowledge of us.

He cares for his flock.

We see this in verses

seven through ten.

And I think that this is

going to minister

to some of you in the room.

Verses one through five,

he's talking about

his legitimate authority

and access

through the gate

to the sheep.

And in verses seven

through ten,

he switches it up a little bit.

Now he's talking

about himself

as the gate,

as the door

to the sheepfold.

So Jesus said to them,

again,

the Jews,

particularly Pharisees,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

I am the door

of the sheep.

I mean,

what's he doing here?

This seems weird.

He was just talking

about a shepherd,

now he's talking

about a door,

and he comes back

to shepherd talk

in verse 11 and 14.

So,

is he shifting this up?

Let me assure you,

Jesus isn't kind of

putting the whole

shepherd talk on hold.

Let me explain.

Don't imagine

in your minds

when Jesus says,

I am the door

of the sheepfold,

don't imagine

the sheepfold

with a wood door

and the name Jesus

burned into the door.

Don't think that.

Here's what you need

to think.

Jesus is talking

about a role

of the shepherd.

Not all sheepfolds

in the first century

had doors.

And so,

if a sheepfold

didn't have a door,

a sheepherder

would either

employ a hired hand

to stand guard,

or the shepherd himself

would lie down

in the entryway

of a shepherd,

of a sheepfold,

as the shepherd door.

And that performed

two functions.

We see one in verse 8.

All who came before me

are thieves and robbers,

but the sheep

did not listen to them.

The shepherd in the door

keeps out the bad guys,

thieves and robbers.

Do you know who Jesus

is talking about there?

He's talking about

the religious leaders

of that day

that he's speaking to.

And in the first part

of verse 10,

Jesus helps us

understand the intent

of these thieves and robbers.

The thief comes only

to steal and kill

and destroy.

Jesus,

the shepherd door,

protects his human flock

from the bad guys

with bad intent,

so he protects his flock

by keeping out

death and destruction.

Get it?

But in verse 9,

it's the other side of that.

He is the entryway

to life.

Jesus says

in verse 9,

I am the door

if anyone,

if any human,

if any sheep,

if anyone enters

through me,

by me,

he will be saved

in all of that,

what that means

and go in and out

and find pasture.

I'm going to provide you

life,

good pasture.

Now,

there should be

a couple things

popping in your head

right now.

He makes me

lie down

in green pastures.

He leads me

beside still waters.

He restores my soul,

Psalm 23.

Remember when we were

reading through Ezekiel 34

how God himself

will feed his sheep

on the highlands of Israel,

just the choice food?

It's a picture of life.

And that's why

in John 10, 10,

the second half,

Jesus talks about

I came that they might

have life

and have it abundantly.

I came

to provide

abundant

life

pasture

to all

of my sheep.

The bad guys

come to steal,

kill,

and destroy.

But the good shepherd

came

and he is the door

to his legitimate sheep

that they may have life

and have it

to the full.

If you look down

at 10, 28,

he says,

I give them

eternal life

and they will

never

perish.

Later on

in John 17,

Jesus says,

and this is eternal life,

that you know

God

and me,

the Son.

Eternal life

is defined

by Jesus

in terms of being

in right relationship

to him.

So if you know

God through Christ,

you will never

perish.

You have abundant

life

starting now.

The good shepherd

wants to give you

good pasture.

In 738,

Jesus talks about it

this way,

about giving a heart

from which flows

rivers of living water.

It's a reference

to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

in us

perpetually,

non-stop,

giving us life

that quenches

our deepest

soul thirst.

the good shepherd

gives abundant

life

to his sheep.

He protects

and he provides.

Now,

I just need to make

one qualification

here

because you're like,

man,

my life

doesn't look like that.

The situation

that sparked

all this

good shepherd talk

was the healing

of a blind man

in chapter 9.

And that blind man,

Jesus,

came up to

spit into some mud,

put it onto his eyes

and tell,

go wash that off

in the pool of Siloam.

The blind man

never saw Jesus.

He just

heard his voice.

And then after

he's healed,

there's this

big hubbub.

And he begins

to identify himself,

the former blind man,

he begins to identify

himself

as one of

Jesus' disciples.

Even though

he's never seen Jesus,

he's just heard

about Jesus.

His parents

kind of

ostracize him

and then this

climax

is in

this man

born blind

but now

given sight

by Jesus

whom he just

heard in obedience.

The Pharisees

kick him out

of the synagogue

which is basically

being kicked out

of a church.

The men

who could see

Jesus

but were blind

to who he really

was

kicked the blind

man

who didn't

see Jesus

but believed

in him

when was given

sight out.

You see it?

So why am I

telling you

all this stuff?

Well when

this man

born blind

healed by Jesus

finally meets

up with Jesus

again

and sees him

for the first

time

one would

think

that this

blind man

now who can

see

would be like

oh man

this stinks

parents

have kind of

virtually

disowned me

I got kicked

out of the

synagogue

bug

bummer

one would

think

that that

kind of

alienating

would crush

one

but do you

know what

this

blind man

who can

now see

do you

know what

he does

when

Jesus

says

hey

you're

looking at

the guy

that healed

you

do you

know what

he does

938

he says

Lord

I believe

and he

worshipped

Jesus

that's

what

abundant

life

looks like

it

is

thriving

joyful

living

for

Jesus

despite

your

circumstances

being in

right

relationship

to God

through

Jesus

does

that

he

cared

for

that

blind

man

now

who

is

given

sight

and

Jesus

the

good

shepherd

cares

for

you

to

protect

and

to

provide

the

fourth

truth

his

sacrificial

good

on behalf

of

his

flock

this

is

verses

11

18

and

this

is

where

the

thickness

of

the

passage

shows

up

in

these

verses

Jesus

refers

to

himself

as

the

good

shepherd

he

does

that

three

times

twice

in

verse

11

you can

see

it

I

am

the

good

shepherd

the

and

once

in

verse

14

I

am

the

good

shepherd

so

the

question

becomes

what

does

he

mean

by

good

well

in

classic

Jesus

style

he

starts

off

with

a

picture

of

bad

shepherding

in

verses

12

and

13

he

says

hey

we've

all

seen

the

hired

man

before

he

who

is

a

hired

man

hand

and

not

a

shepherd

look

at

who

does

not

own

the

sheep

the

sheep

do

not

belong

like

that

who

does

not

own

the

sheep

they

don't

belong

to

him

when

he

sees

a

wolf

coming

he

turns

tail

to

save

his

own

life

and

when

he

does

that

the

sheep

are

snatched

by

the

wolf

and

scattered

he's

again

giving

a

dig

against

the

Pharisees

verse

13

he

says

a

hired

man

because

the

sheep

don't

belong

to

him

he

doesn't

care

for

their

safety

when

a

beast

point

not

the

good

shepherd

the

good

of

the

good

shepherd

is

what

he

will

do

for

his

sheep

in

danger

and

this

good

is

the

same

good

that

makes

good

Friday

good

each

time

Jesus

brings

up

that

he

is

the

good

shepherd

there

is

this

explicit

link

to

him

laying

down

his

life

look

at

verse

11

I'm

the

good

shepherd

the

good

shepherd

lays

down

his

life

for

the

sheep

14

I'm

the

good

shepherd

I

know

my own

my own

know

me

just

as

the

father

knows

me

and

I

know

the

father

and

I

lay

down

my

life

for

the

sheep

and

then

in

verses

17

and

18

three

more

times

he

talks

about

laying

down

his

life

for

the

sheep

and

twice

he

talks

about

taking

it

up

again

his

resurrection

the

greatest

danger

facing

his

sheep

was

his

sheep's

sinfulness

and

remember

verse 14

I know

my own

I know

my own

and

so

the

good

shepherd

on

good

Friday

gave

his

own

life

to

cover

over

to

atone

for

the

sin

of

his

own

sheep

so

that

they

can

come

into

a

relationship

with

him

and

become

part

of

his

flock

the

greatest

good

the

defining

good

was

Jesus

giving

his

life

for

his

own

and

taking

it

up

again

it's

absolutely

vital

to

making

us

his

own

his

sacrificial

good

of

laying

down

his

life

makes

us

his

own

his

death

is

what

makes

us

the

blood

bought

people

of

God

he

perished

so

that

we

would

not

perish

we

are

one

united

flock

following

our

one

exclusive

shepherd

who

laid

down

his

life

willingly

of

his

own

accord

with

his

authority

under

the

charge

of

his

father

for

the

glory

of

the

father's

name

five

the

fifth

truth

he's

gathering

all

of

his

flock

I'm

going to

develop

this

more

next

week

let

me

just

touch

on

it

now

in

verse

three

we

get

a

hint

of

something

to

him

the

gatekeeper

opens

the

sheep

hear

his

voice

and

he

calls

his

own

sheep

by

name

and

leads

them

out

he

calls

out

his

sheep

from

the

other

sheep

in

the

sheep

fold

he

says

come

come

to

me

come

out

of

them

come

to

me

and

become

part

of

my

flock

Jesus

in

John

10

is

addressing

Jews

so

he's

saying

in

verse

three

I

am

calling

by

name

human

sheep

from

the

Jewish

sheep

fold

now

if you

look down

at verses

15

and 16

remember

in

14

says

I

am

the

good

shepherd

I

know

my

own

and

my

own

know

me

just

as

the

father

knows

me

and

I

know

the

father

and

I

lay

down

my

life

for

the

sheep

and

he

says

in

verse

16

and

I

have

other

sheep

that

are

not

of

this

fold

I

must

I

must

I

must

bring

them

also

and

they

will

listen

to

my

voice

so

there

will

be

one

flock

one

shepherd

Jesus

is

calling

a

worldwide

flock

unto

himself

not

only

from

the

Jewish

sheep

fold

but

sheep

outside

of that

sheep

fold

for

the

Jewish

mind

there

was

two

groups

of

people

in

the

world

Jews

and

non

Jews

also

known

as

Gentiles

and

so

when

Jesus

says

I've

got

sheep

none

of

this

fold

he's

saying

I've

got

sheep

that

I

laid

my

life

down

for

who

I

know

and

will

know

me

and

they

are

from

the

Gentile

sheep

fold

and

I'm

going

to

gather

them

from

the

Jews

I'm

going

to

gather

them

from

the

Gentiles

and

I'm

going

to

make

one

whole

new

blood

bought

flock

my

church

and

that

word

must

carries

the

sense

of

urgency

it

carries

the

sense

of

verse

18

discharge

Jesus

says

I

have

received

from

my

father

I

will

do

this

he's

talking

about

the

global

church

all

the

blood

bought

people

of

God

from

multiple

sheep

folds

indwelt

by the

Holy

Spirit

on

mission

for

the

good

shepherd

and

I

want

to

press

on

you

today

that

this

must

is

still

in

effect

the

good

shepherd

is

still

gathering

himself

sheep

from

multiple

sheep

folds

from

white

sheep

folds

from

black

sheep

folds

from

Jewish

and

Gentile

from

Republican

and

Democrat

he's

calling

them

all

unto

himself

they

hear

his

name

he's

laid

his

life

down

they

come

after

him

they

must

come

after

him

they

can't

resist

his

call

because

they

were

given

to

him

by

the

father

I'm

going to

develop

this

a little

bit

more

next

week

but

when

we

talk

about

being

one

united

flock

following

one

exclusive

shepherd

being

one

flock

turns out

to be

harder

than

it

sounds

the

fifth

truth

is

he's

gathering

a

flock

now

there's

no one

like

him

and

the

sixth

truth

is

a

promise

he

makes

to

his

flock

that's

in

verses

28

and

30

it

sets

him

apart

only

he

can

make

this

promise

he

makes

this

promise

to

those

who

he's

called

by

name

those

whom

he

knows

those

who

heard

his

voice

and

follow

him

to

those

whom

he

has

laid

his

life

for

to

those

whom

he

has

gathered

into

one

flock

with

one

shepherd

to

them

and

to

them

alone

he

makes

a

stunning

promise

in

verses

28

through

30

look at

verse

28

he

says

I

give

them

eternal

life

and

they

will

never

perish

promise

and

no

one

will

snatch

them

out

of

my

hand

the

last

time

we

encountered

the

word

snatch

was

in

verse

12

when

the

hired

hand

bolts

and

the

wolf

comes

and

snatch

the

sheep

not

so

with

Jesus

you

can't

snatch

one of

Jesus

feet

sheep

out of

his

hands

because

they

belong

to

Jesus

no

one

no

thing

will

snatch

any

of

Jesus

sheep

from

his

hand

because

that

hand

is

a

pierced

hand

a

hand

that

was

buried

a

hand

that

was

raised

that

hand

is

the

hand

of

the

risen

shepherd

Christ

no

one

will

snatch