True Sheep (John 10:22-30)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.240 If you're able, please remain standing. And let's turn to John, Chapter 2 00:00:03.319 --> 00:00:10.589 Ten. And here, here God's Word From The Gospel of John. We 3 00:00:10.750 --> 00:00:17.149 come today to the middle of the Gospel. I'm thankful for all that has 4 00:00:17.510 --> 00:00:24.420 come before it and for that which is ahead to John Ten, verses twenty 5 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:32.740 two through thirty. At that time the Feast of dedication took place at Jerusalem. 6 00:00:33.380 --> 00:00:37.450 It was winter and Jesus was walking in the Temple and the colonnade of 7 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:46.210 Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, I'm having 8 00:00:46.250 --> 00:00:49.490 trouble training my page. Okay that, the Jews gathered around him and said 9 00:00:49.490 --> 00:00:52.920 to him, how long will you keep us in suspense if you are the 10 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:58.840 Christ Tallus? Plainly, Jesus answered them. I told you, and you 11 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.920 do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name bear witness 12 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.709 about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 13 00:01:08.829 --> 00:01:14.390 My sheep here my voice, and I know them and they follow me. 14 00:01:15.430 --> 00:01:19.980 I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will 15 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:23.340 snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to 16 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:27.340 me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out 17 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:36.250 of the father's hand. I and the father are one. He may be 18 00:01:36.370 --> 00:01:46.730 seated again in the gospel of John, this Great Evangelist, this Gospel Preacher 19 00:01:46.890 --> 00:01:52.239 of the Servant of the Lord, reveals to us, by the power of 20 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:57.599 the spirit of God, who Jesus is. He records Jesus's words here so 21 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:01.549 that we would hear his voice, so that we would know him, so 22 00:02:01.709 --> 00:02:07.710 that we would follow him, so that we would have eternal life. Jesus 23 00:02:07.789 --> 00:02:14.270 tells us to pay attention to his works. Jesus tells us who he is, 24 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:22.580 that he is distinguished from the father and yet one with the father. 25 00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:29.819 The great doctrine of the Trinity is expressed in part here, or minder, 26 00:02:29.979 --> 00:02:37.569 that the father and the son are two persons and yet one in essence. 27 00:02:38.530 --> 00:02:45.400 This second person of the Trinity, who is taken on the form of man, 28 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:53.520 who has clothed himself with human flesh, is cold because it's winter time. 29 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:59.750 He is in the colonnade of Solomon, a part of the temple with 30 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:05.669 big thick walls where people would probably gather, and at least at this time, 31 00:03:05.830 --> 00:03:15.500 we're gathering the celebration of the celebration of the temple. I'm John tells 32 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:21.659 us that it was the feast of dedication, what is popularly called Hanakah, 33 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:28.090 Jesus and Jerusalem. It's wintertime, it's cold, Jesus is walking around in 34 00:03:28.210 --> 00:03:31.969 one of the warmer parts of the temple and they are there to celebrate the 35 00:03:32.090 --> 00:03:39.050 temple. They are to celebrate this moment of rededication, of consecration, to 36 00:03:39.210 --> 00:03:49.319 remember how, one hundred and sixty eight BC, antiochus epiphanies defiled the temple, 37 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:57.110 destroyed the altar and in fact set up set up an altar to Zeus 38 00:03:58.349 --> 00:04:02.750 inside the temple of the Living God. And it would be a few years 39 00:04:02.789 --> 00:04:08.629 later when Judas maccabeus and his brothers would deliver God's people out from under this 40 00:04:08.789 --> 00:04:13.900 idolatry and would restore the temple, would consecrate it again to the Lord on 41 00:04:13.979 --> 00:04:17.740 a new altar, with a burnt offering given to the one true God. 42 00:04:18.180 --> 00:04:23.259 This is what they were celebrating, this moment in which the temple was re 43 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:29.649 claimed for God, consecrated for God. Taken out from this pagant observance, 44 00:04:30.290 --> 00:04:36.370 it was a festival about renewal and celebration, and so the people on during 45 00:04:36.490 --> 00:04:42.360 this festival on this day. They want to know. Are you the Messiah? 46 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:48.240 Are You the Christ? Are You the new and Greater Judas maccabeus that 47 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:54.230 was promised for a long, long time, that would rescue us and lead 48 00:04:54.269 --> 00:04:59.189 us out from under the hands of the Romans and the whole world to establish 49 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:08.220 the great dividic kingdom again and forever? We want to know, they say, 50 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:15.060 how long will you keep us in suspense? Tell US plainly. Well, 51 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:20.300 Jesus most certainly is the Christ. He is most certainly the messiah. 52 00:05:20.730 --> 00:05:27.129 He is the son of David, the great and promised son of man who 53 00:05:27.129 --> 00:05:34.250 would's promised and Daniel, who would come and establish his rule over all kingdoms. 54 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:42.680 But he is also not what they think when they think Christ. He 55 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:47.720 is greater than Judas macabeus, but he is also qualitatively different. He is 56 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:54.870 of a whole another order. He is God himself. And that's why Jesus 57 00:05:54.990 --> 00:06:00.509 refuses to answer them directly. It's not because he's keeping in them in suspense, 58 00:06:00.589 --> 00:06:04.699 as they say he is, or as they accuse him of doing. 59 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:11.819 It's because their minds are still fixed on the things that are below and not 60 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:16.899 on the revelation that is from above, and besides, this is and Jesus 61 00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:23.209 says to them. I already told you, and you do not believe. 62 00:06:25.449 --> 00:06:32.720 If we're honest with ourselves, we will admit that sometimes we ask questions of 63 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:38.680 God not because we want to know the answer, but because we think that 64 00:06:38.759 --> 00:06:43.800 if we keep asking questions, we're off the hook. As long as we're 65 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:48.990 asking questions, as long as we're curious and inquisitive and trying that somehow we 66 00:06:49.069 --> 00:06:53.949 don't have to actually decide, that, as long as we're figuring it out, 67 00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:57.990 no one can blame us for not believing him, no one can blame 68 00:06:58.029 --> 00:07:04.379 us for not following him. Not so Jesus, as he says here, 69 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:11.259 he knows our hearts, or as he demonstrates here. He knows our hearts, 70 00:07:11.300 --> 00:07:15.250 he knows our ways. He knows the difference between someone who has faith 71 00:07:15.370 --> 00:07:18.649 and is truly searching, who says, Lord, I believe, but help 72 00:07:19.050 --> 00:07:28.449 my unbelief, and the person who uses questions for as excuses and misdirection. 73 00:07:29.889 --> 00:07:34.480 Of course, God is not mocked, God is not fooled. People around 74 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:39.519 us might say, might let us off the hook and give us a little 75 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:44.160 more time, but God knows our hearts, he knows the difference between a 76 00:07:44.310 --> 00:07:50.430 real seeking question and one that is simply a stall tactic. God is not 77 00:07:50.589 --> 00:07:56.589 fooled, God is not mocked, Jesus says to them. I don't need 78 00:07:56.750 --> 00:08:01.660 to tell you. I already told you, and you have chosen not to 79 00:08:01.899 --> 00:08:09.259 believe. You do not believe because you are not among my sheep. Instead 80 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:13.329 of asking questions that we know the answer to already, we ought to believe 81 00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:20.050 what God has said. We ought to believe what God has done. The 82 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:24.649 works that I do in my father's name, Jesus says, bear witness about 83 00:08:24.810 --> 00:08:30.639 me. You do not believe because you are not among my sheep. And 84 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:33.679 when we think about Jesus is works, this should be as plain as day. 85 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:39.519 He has caused a lame man to walk. He is healed a man 86 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:46.230 who was blind from birth. He has a spoken into people's lives with the 87 00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:52.710 things that he should not be able to know. He has spoken with authority. 88 00:08:52.990 --> 00:08:58.019 He is said things that no one has ever said. He was born 89 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:03.220 in a miraculous way, born of a virgin. Over and over and again 90 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:07.259 throughout Jesus life, and we're just speaking about some of the things that are 91 00:09:07.299 --> 00:09:11.730 mentioned in John and we can think of many others. This one who has 92 00:09:11.809 --> 00:09:16.409 come as the son of God, is this lied into the world, is 93 00:09:16.690 --> 00:09:22.250 and has and will continue to demonstrate exactly who he is, that he does 94 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:30.200 the works of his father, that he does the works of God, he 95 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:35.080 does them on the Sabbath, because he is Lord of the Sabbath, because 96 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:43.110 through him we have rest and healing and life and forgiveness and reconciliation. That's 97 00:09:43.149 --> 00:09:48.789 what Jesus is about. That's what Jesus has testified to outside of Jerusalem and 98 00:09:48.990 --> 00:09:58.460 inside of Jerusalem, privately and publicly. So who are the true sheep of 99 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:03.299 Jesus? Is the real question of this passage, not the one they present. 100 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:07.490 Are You the Christ? Of course he's the Christ. That's been demonstrated 101 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:15.610 with much, much proof. At this point the question is, are you 102 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:22.519 the true sheep? Not? Is He the True Messiah? That's what Jesus 103 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:26.639 wants them to think about. It's what Jesus wants us to think about as 104 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:31.279 we understand who he is. He's told us in this passage in John Ten, 105 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:35.789 earlier in this chapter, he's told us that he is the gate through 106 00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:39.629 which the shepherds come in and come out and lead the sheep. True Shepherds, 107 00:10:41.750 --> 00:10:45.230 that no one goes, no one goes in and out of the flock 108 00:10:45.669 --> 00:10:48.789 of Christ except through him. He's told us that he is the Good Shepherd 109 00:10:48.830 --> 00:10:54.940 over all the flock, watching and guarding, protecting, giving them everything that 110 00:10:54.539 --> 00:11:00.820 they need. And now we come to a question about the church. Who 111 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:05.649 are the true sheep? And other words, is it those who stand near 112 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:11.090 him and ask questions? Is it those who are associated with him and his 113 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:18.639 people and hang around and and are are tangentially connected to him? Is that 114 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:24.759 those who belong to the biological family of Jesus? It's none of these. 115 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:31.759 None of these are the true sheep of Jesus. Who are the true sheep 116 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:35.950 of Jesus? Well, he tells us in four things. He tells us 117 00:11:35.990 --> 00:11:41.350 the true the true sheep, are those that hear his voice. He tells 118 00:11:41.389 --> 00:11:46.750 us that the true sheep are those who know him personally. He tells us 119 00:11:46.789 --> 00:11:50.179 that the true sheep are those who follow Jesus and he tells us that the 120 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:58.419 true sheep are those who receive eternal life, everlasting protection and safety in his 121 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:07.169 and the father's hand. Let's consider each of those briefly. First, the 122 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:11.610 true sheep are those who hear his voice. As I mentioned last time from 123 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:18.519 this passage, it's the nature of sheep to know their shepherd. It reminds 124 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:22.840 me of the way children, I'm in a in a performance, will get 125 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.559 up on stage, maybe with all their other classmates or other people they're performing 126 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:30.149 with, and when they look out, they look out on the crowd and 127 00:12:30.230 --> 00:12:33.269 they look for a familiar face. They look for the face of their parents. 128 00:12:35.149 --> 00:12:37.990 They want to recognize them and they'll look and look and look and they'll 129 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:43.340 have that look on their face like this, maybe I have smile, and 130 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:48.220 then when they see their mom and dad, they they smile and they're happy 131 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:52.700 and they recognize they it's like the sheep that hears the voice. There's immediate 132 00:12:52.940 --> 00:13:00.169 recognition, there's an immediate change in the heart. You can see all of 133 00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:05.330 these people there, but when the child sees their parent and they see them 134 00:13:05.370 --> 00:13:09.610 they are sitting in this audience, this great crowd of people, they know 135 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:16.600 that everything's okay. It's maybe hard to imagine so many people don't recognize Jesus. 136 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:22.840 Why is that when he's right in front of them? Here he is 137 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:26.629 and Solomon's colonnade, speaking to them, talking to them, revealing things to 138 00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:33.190 them and they don't hear his voice, though he's speaking. They don't see 139 00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:37.070 him for who he is. They don't recognize him as the Christ. Tell 140 00:13:37.110 --> 00:13:41.269 us, are you the Christ? Of course he's the Christ. Doesn't need 141 00:13:41.309 --> 00:13:46.779 to tell you, he's already told you. Why? Why are they so 142 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:54.940 blind? The answer is is that it takes God to unstop their ears, 143 00:13:56.409 --> 00:13:58.970 to uncover their eyes. They are like blind people. That's why we have 144 00:14:00.129 --> 00:14:03.649 this miracle of the blind man. It takes the work of God, this 145 00:14:03.850 --> 00:14:09.370 miraculous miracle, that's the same thing, this amazing miracle, this gracious miracle, 146 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:18.000 to to cause them to see. Second Corinthians Four for says of people 147 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:22.519 like this. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the 148 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:28.750 minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel, 149 00:14:28.029 --> 00:14:35.389 of the Glory of Christ. That's what Satan does, the one that this 150 00:14:35.590 --> 00:14:39.539 world worships, the one that this world bows down to to and and and 151 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:46.100 serves, the one that the one in that they are a true children of. 152 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:50.779 He blinds them so that they cannot see. And that's why I is 153 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:56.490 Christians is the true sheep of God. We praise God, not just that, 154 00:14:56.610 --> 00:15:00.129 we follow him, not just that we know him, but that we 155 00:15:00.169 --> 00:15:05.250 even recognized him in the first place, as Paul goes on to say in 156 00:15:05.370 --> 00:15:11.039 that passage, for God who said let light shine out of darkness, has 157 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:16.519 shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of 158 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:24.149 God in the face of Jesus Christ. How do we know God? How 159 00:15:24.230 --> 00:15:26.590 do we know the glory of God? How do we recognize the face of 160 00:15:26.750 --> 00:15:31.990 Jesus Christ? Because, in the same way in which he spoke light into 161 00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:35.340 the world, he has spoken so that there is light in our hearts. 162 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:41.940 We give praise to God, for God who said let light shine out of 163 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:48.580 darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of 164 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:56.730 the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We are God's sheep, 165 00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:03.210 because he has unstopped our ears, because he has opened our eyes, 166 00:16:03.490 --> 00:16:11.240 because he has called us to himself and and allowed us to hear we get 167 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:18.080 to know God, of course, by listening to that voice, after hearing 168 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:25.389 it, the true sheep. John says, are Jesus says, know Jesus 169 00:16:25.990 --> 00:16:30.190 in a personal way. We get to know Jesus. How do we get 170 00:16:30.190 --> 00:16:40.019 to know him? By listening to him, just like when a man and 171 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:45.379 a woman want to get to know each other, what do they do? 172 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:49.610 They talk, they spend time to each other or with each other, and 173 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:56.370 they they listen. They spend time listening and they do it again and again 174 00:16:56.450 --> 00:17:00.639 and again and over time they they get to know each other. It's the 175 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:06.720 same with us and our Lord. We get to know Jesus by hearing his 176 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:10.960 voice and listening to him again and again and again, and the more we 177 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:15.160 hear his voice, the easier it is to recognize his voice, to get 178 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.069 closer to him, the easier it is. Not to be fooled. Have 179 00:17:19.150 --> 00:17:23.549 you ever had that experience of maybe being in a grocery store or someplace in 180 00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:27.430 somebody calling your name and you turn around and you realize they're talking to the 181 00:17:27.750 --> 00:17:37.420 other person with the same name? Going back to using another kid example, 182 00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:42.339 you might guess why, but using another kid example. Perhaps you've had some 183 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:48.410 of you had the experience of watching children on a playground and somebody says dad, 184 00:17:48.690 --> 00:17:52.650 you look over like not my kid, Dad, I'm a kid and 185 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:56.329 it you know that happens in number of times. You spend a few minutes 186 00:17:56.329 --> 00:17:59.880 there and you begin to to kind of recognize. Okay, that's the voice 187 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:03.759 of that kid and that's the voice of my kid. Right. You Begin, 188 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:06.960 the more you pay attention, the more you distinguish, the more you 189 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:12.910 listen, the more you get to know. The first time, in the 190 00:18:14.029 --> 00:18:18.750 early stages of our relationships or in certain context, it might be difficult to 191 00:18:18.869 --> 00:18:22.029 distinguish between one voice and another. But the more we get to know Jesus, 192 00:18:22.390 --> 00:18:26.859 the more we listen to him, the closer we come to him, 193 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:33.299 and this is so important. Jesus gave his life to us so that we 194 00:18:33.380 --> 00:18:41.769 might know him, so that we might live in him, and it was 195 00:18:41.890 --> 00:18:49.250 Jesus with who gave his life. Generic spirituality did not give its life for 196 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:57.039 you, not some great prophet or a really good teacher or a good way 197 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:06.680 of living or the next best seller. It was Jesus. Jesus alone gave 198 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:12.750 his life, laid down his life for his sheep. Jesus alone hung on 199 00:19:12.910 --> 00:19:19.869 the cross, and so it's Jesus alone that we want to hear. You, 200 00:19:21.190 --> 00:19:26.660 if you are married, it's not good enough for you to simply hear 201 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:34.099 a spouse's words to you. You want your spouse's words. If you are 202 00:19:34.099 --> 00:19:40.410 a child, let's say you are someone who's lost a parent, a parent 203 00:19:40.450 --> 00:19:42.210 who's died. If I came to you and I said, well, here's 204 00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:51.170 the words of another father, it's that's worthless to me. I want to 205 00:19:51.289 --> 00:20:00.519 hear my dad, I want to hear my mom. It's the same with 206 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:07.509 Jesus. We don't need some other great teacher, we don't need another moral 207 00:20:07.750 --> 00:20:14.670 person, we don't need generic spirituality. We need Jesus and Jesus alone. 208 00:20:14.670 --> 00:20:18.509 And it's Jesus that we hear, it's Jesus that we know, and and 209 00:20:18.710 --> 00:20:22.299 he knows us. That's why the scriptures say we don't just notice his voice 210 00:20:22.420 --> 00:20:29.539 and hear his word. Jesus says his true disciples are those who abide in 211 00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:36.609 his word. There's an ongoing, active, living sense. That's why we 212 00:20:36.730 --> 00:20:41.009 come and worship every Sunday. That's why we want to hear his word over 213 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:45.609 and over again. It's why we spend time during the week reading the scriptures, 214 00:20:47.009 --> 00:20:52.279 praying. I'm seeking to hear him and know him because we don't want 215 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:59.039 to just because we want, because we want to know him well. That 216 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:03.319 leads to number three. The true sheep don't just hear Jesus and know Jesus. 217 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:07.509 They of course, also follow Jesus. Jesus is true sheep follow him. 218 00:21:10.390 --> 00:21:14.349 When, if we go back to the children on the playground, analogy, 219 00:21:14.710 --> 00:21:17.789 let's say they are there for a birthday party. In there roll running 220 00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:21.460 around, mixed with a bunch of other kids from the neighborhood and parents says 221 00:21:21.500 --> 00:21:25.579 it's time to eat, we're going to open presence. WHO COMES OUT? 222 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:30.619 Hopefully not all the kids on the playground, just your kids, right, 223 00:21:30.700 --> 00:21:36.049 and the kids. They do that because they recognize, they know the voice 224 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:40.490 of their parent and they follow them. The same is true for the sheep 225 00:21:40.650 --> 00:21:45.809 of the Lord. When Jesus calls his sheep, his true sheep follow him. 226 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:52.519 They follow him and they come and they sit at his table and they 227 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.759 eat together with him. The one who says he's a Christian and walks around 228 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:02.630 with his Bible and talks about Jesus things, but doesn't actually follow the Lord 229 00:22:02.789 --> 00:22:07.829 is not a true sheep of Jesus. We know, of course, of 230 00:22:07.910 --> 00:22:14.630 another Judas who was following Jesus around, who was talking about Jesus, who 231 00:22:14.710 --> 00:22:21.619 was doing Jesus things, who was connected very closely, very intimately, with 232 00:22:21.819 --> 00:22:26.019 other followers of Jesus, and yet who was not a true sheep of Jesus 233 00:22:27.019 --> 00:22:36.769 who ultimately betrayed Jesus and then took his own life. The person who simply 234 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:42.049 connects himself tangentially with the Lord, who simply stands by the Lord and not 235 00:22:42.250 --> 00:22:47.519 in the Lord, who doesn't actually follow the Lord with his heart, to 236 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.960 do what he says, believe what is told. James says that person's religious 237 00:22:53.839 --> 00:23:03.349 is worth or religion is worthless. It's worthless. The true sheep follow the 238 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:11.029 shepherd, because that's what true sheep do. It's the nature of them. 239 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:18.579 They look to their shepherd, they follow him. And how many benefits there 240 00:23:18.619 --> 00:23:27.250 are to that? Listen to these words again and palm twenty three. David 241 00:23:27.329 --> 00:23:33.009 says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes 242 00:23:33.089 --> 00:23:38.529 me lie down in Green Pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he 243 00:23:38.730 --> 00:23:45.079 restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his own namesake, 244 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:49.400 even though I walk through the Valley of the shadow of death, I 245 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:55.789 will fear no evil, for you are with me, your Rod and your 246 00:23:55.910 --> 00:24:03.230 staff. They comfort me. That's what it's like to follow Jesus. That's 247 00:24:03.230 --> 00:24:07.750 what it's like to know him, to hear him and to follow him. 248 00:24:08.710 --> 00:24:12.299 Well. The last thing Jesus says is that Jesus is sheep. The true 249 00:24:12.339 --> 00:24:18.500 sheep of Jesus Receive Eternal Life, and you hear it already in David's words 250 00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:26.650 there, and these most comforting words, to all of the father's children, 251 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:32.809 he says in Verse Twenty Eight, I give them eternal life and they will 252 00:24:33.009 --> 00:24:41.039 never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Thinking about 253 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:48.680 kids and parents again, sorry for the same domain of descriptions, but anyway, 254 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:55.950 perhaps you remember being a child and trying to pry open an adult's hand 255 00:24:56.470 --> 00:25:00.390 that's holding some object, and you thinking, you try, sword, you 256 00:25:00.670 --> 00:25:04.950 just stren't strong enough, there's nothing you can do to open it right, 257 00:25:07.109 --> 00:25:15.660 just too strong, impossible, can't take what is in the hand of this 258 00:25:15.940 --> 00:25:25.730 one. And here this is what Jesus says of our father who is in 259 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:32.849 heaven, of our Lord, Jesus himself, our great shepherd. He says, 260 00:25:32.970 --> 00:25:37.319 I give them entire life, they will never perish and no one will 261 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:44.079 snatch them out of my hand. The one who belongs to the Lord, 262 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:49.430 the true sheep of the Lord, are totally protected, one hundred percent. 263 00:25:49.670 --> 00:25:53.470 That's why David goes on to say, the Lord Prepares a table before me 264 00:25:53.910 --> 00:26:00.789 in front of my enemies. He is that secure his enemies. All they 265 00:26:00.829 --> 00:26:07.220 can do is stand there and watch as God celebrates and lays out this banquet 266 00:26:07.420 --> 00:26:12.619 for his servant. Totally safe. I will walk through the Valley of shadow 267 00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:18.569 of death and I will fear no evil. Why? Because God is with 268 00:26:18.769 --> 00:26:26.210 me and no one can and snatch me out of his hand. When I 269 00:26:26.329 --> 00:26:33.400 say God, I mean Jesus, because Jesus says that he and the father 270 00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:41.519 are one everything that we all the glory and honor and power and praise that 271 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:47.829 we attribute to God, the Father Almighty, we also attribute to his son, 272 00:26:48.269 --> 00:26:59.430 because the father has eternally given everything to the son. The as tight, 273 00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:03.740 I hate using that word because it's so much more than that, but 274 00:27:03.980 --> 00:27:08.140 as tight as the union is between the father and the sign, that's how 275 00:27:08.500 --> 00:27:18.170 tight God's hand is around us. Paul will speak similarly, and in Romans, 276 00:27:18.250 --> 00:27:21.930 for he says nothing can separate us from the love of God, not 277 00:27:22.210 --> 00:27:27.009 height nor depth, nothing, nothing in all the world, nothing visible, 278 00:27:27.250 --> 00:27:36.319 nothing invisible. Jesus is over all and you are safe. My father, 279 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:38.839 who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one is 280 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:45.750 able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are 281 00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:51.950 one. As we think about this, I'd like you to turn in your 282 00:27:51.990 --> 00:28:00.859 hymnals to page eight hundred and seventy two. Eight hundred and seventy two. 283 00:28:04.460 --> 00:28:11.619 You turn there. I'll conclude, before we read this together, by reminding 284 00:28:11.740 --> 00:28:17.490 you that what here is an evangelical assurance, as one commentator puts it, 285 00:28:17.730 --> 00:28:23.289 a Gospel Comfort to those who belong to Jesus. It is also a gospel 286 00:28:23.490 --> 00:28:30.279 warning to those who are hardening their hearts, who are not listening, who 287 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:36.359 are turning away. John says later in John Fifteen six, if anyone does 288 00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:40.440 not abide in me, that's Jesus speaking. If anyone does not abide in 289 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:44.829 me, he is thrown away like a branch. That and like a branch, 290 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:48.029 and that wither, isn't it? Brand and as branches are gathered, 291 00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:55.549 thrown into the fire and burned. Don't be a stubborn sheep. Don't be 292 00:28:55.900 --> 00:29:00.059 separated from the Lord. When you hear his voice, respond in faith, 293 00:29:02.460 --> 00:29:07.859 follow him, know him, have the eternal life that he freely gives to 294 00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:12.049 you. He holds you in his hand. And then, when you'll find 295 00:29:12.130 --> 00:29:17.329 yourself as one who has been rescued by God in this way, who has 296 00:29:17.369 --> 00:29:21.930 been called by the spirit and by the word of Christ into this new life 297 00:29:22.009 --> 00:29:26.680 to know the glory of God, to know this perfect safety and eternal life 298 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:30.960 that you have. You can say, as this question says, question one 299 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:34.799 of the Heidelberg Catechism. You can answer and I would encourage you to read 300 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:38.029 with me. After I I'll state the question, you read the answer with 301 00:29:38.150 --> 00:29:45.589 me. will end this way. What is your only comfort in life and 302 00:29:45.829 --> 00:29:52.589 death? That I am not my own but belong body and soul, in 303 00:29:52.829 --> 00:29:57.940 life and in death, to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ. He has 304 00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:06.019 fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has delivered me from 305 00:30:06.019 --> 00:30:11.930 the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way 306 00:30:11.609 --> 00:30:18.089 that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my father 307 00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:23.279 in heaven. In fact, all things must work together for my salvation, 308 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:32.079 because I belong to him. Christ, by his Holy Spirit, also assures 309 00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:40.430 me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to 310 00:30:40.630 --> 00:30:44.589 live for him. Then let us pray