John 10 – The Good Shepherd

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The following transcript is a direct copy from the Youtube automatic transcript. It may not be 100% accurate but it is being provided until we can produce a better and more accurate transcript of the sermon.

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beards coming back

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it's great to be in the house of the Lord isn't it it's warm in here

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I don't know about you but I'm thinking about praying for warmer weather yeah that's a great idea I was thinking

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so before we get started just a few announcements uh the VBS props meeting

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is today it's at 4 30. so if you have some time to attend that if you would

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like to serve the Lord in that capacity please attend the meeting and also the women of Grace is having

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their painting class this Thursday at 6 30 p.m here at the church there's

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just a small fee to cover the canvas no big deal if you need help with that at

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all just talk to my wife or Miss Sherry my wife's going to be leading that painting class this Thursday at 6 30.

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and then now after that this Friday and Saturday there's a big Youth Event

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coming up and Cody you want to talk about that a little bit hello hey okay

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um so yeah we have that Youth Event coming up Friday uh we got locked in the people that are going or the people that

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are going so we can't have any last minute people join us sadly um it's already paid for he already has

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our rock climbing forms I think we should meet here at the church I need to

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organize that with the people that are going make sure you have the supplies

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that were listed on the papers that I handed you um like a backpack filled with like a

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water bottle and change of clothes and stuff if you want to go swimming if you have any questions talk to me uh I sent

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out an email to Sherry Stephanie and Angie um to fill out the permission slip form

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so if you didn't get it or you have done it and you've completed the form just

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let me know and then uh after the uh

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kiddos are away and you're up all night Cody I hope you'll attend the Men's breakfast then Saturday morning

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so we'll see if that happens yeah so we got the Men's breakfast on Saturday at 8

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A.M so maybe without sleep you can come and we'll just cook food for you

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yeah good luck indeed yeah and uh but we're going to cook at uh at 8 A.M and

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then breakfast is at 9 00 a.m and Pastor Rodney's actually going to do the devotion for that time so if you guys

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got any questions just come talk to me uh Rodney and I's planning and activity

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after Men's breakfast just talked to me and Rodney after church about that and then the following Monday the

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Women's Bible study gets together and they're going to discuss chapter 2 of

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the book they're in Romans right now when that's Monday at 10 A.M at Becky's

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house and sometimes you girls go do lunch afterwards so I know you have a lot of fun with that

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and her address there is in the bulletin and then we have an upcoming event in

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April and that's the senior luncheon and that's going to be at the Red Front in

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Richmond and if you have any questions about that just talk to Michelle or Becky and

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you'll notice that there are several upcoming April birthdays and uh you'll

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see Megan's birthdays coming up Devin Julia Hosanna and nesba as well

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and uh Let's uh go to the Lord in prayer this morning to uh

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focus our attention on praising the Lord say father in Heaven great and wonderful

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is your name O Lord you are the Lord of Heaven's armies the wonderful counselor

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the prince of peace and the great physician we just humbly ask that your will be

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done on Earth as it is in heaven O Lord forgive us of our sins O Lord as we have

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chosen to forgive everyone else that has offended us throughout the week if not

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please put on our heart to do a Matthew 18 and go talk to that person privately

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and seek them out Lord as we go throughout this day and the rest of our week please help us to

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focus on your word please help us to uh just just guide and direct us because we fall short every

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day oh Lord and we need your help and Lord we also ask for uh that you

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would Grant some wisdom to our leaders that some of them would return To You O

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Lord and we just humbly ask that you protect all of our military that are busy

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protecting us Lord and we especially want to ask for a Debbie driver that you would protect her

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and everyone that's in training with her through this time period in her life on her great adventure of being in the

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military and we thank you thank you for this day oh Lord in Jesus name amen

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you'll stand with us as we sing Our First song

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[Music]

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[Music]

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to finish everything you start my soul was made

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to respond I know where you buy a thousand names

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[Music]

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the enemies [Music]

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Your Grace is passion [Music]

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I call you bondage [Music]

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to be green [Music]

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a thousand names you deserve D single one you are giving

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me a million ways the names that was

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[Music]

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a thousand days let us take her back to you

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just [Music]

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wanting forever [Music]

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[Applause]

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is [Music]

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[Music] you are always

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[Music]

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[Applause] [Music]

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rich in love you are Jesus

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[Music]

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[Music] [Applause] [Music]

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singing back to you

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[Music]

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in mind

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we bring light to the darkness

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[Music] yeah every

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heart attack [Music]

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yes [Music]

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[Music] tell us [Music]

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[Music] [Laughter] [Music]

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everybody [Music]

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enjoy [Music]

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[Music] our Grace or else

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[Music]

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[Music]

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our hearts will [Music] see praise

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for you [Music]

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and all the Earth Will shout your praise

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[Music] are you

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enjoy [Music]

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our Grace pour out our praise rejoice

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[Music] so we pour out our breaks too well with

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me foreign [Music]

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good morning um being First Corinthians chapter 13 which

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is famously dubbed the love chapter

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Rodney asked me to do this yesterday and it immediately came to my mind that this is what I wanted to do

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without really even it was the first thing that popped in my head and then I couldn't get it out of my mind

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and I'm in Romans right now in my own personal studies at home

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but then this morning I just got on the Bible app and it just so happened out of the 1189 chapters that it could have

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referenced that that scripture this morning was in First Corinthians chapter 13. like what are the odds of that but

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that happens all the time it's pretty amazing but so starting in verse 1 of chapter 13.

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says though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love I have become sounding brass or a clinging

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symbol and though I have the gift of Prophecy and understand all Mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all

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Faith so that I could remove mountains but have not love I am nothing and though I bestow all my goods to feed

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the poor and though I give my body to be burned but have not love it profits me nothing

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love suffers long and is kind love does not envy love does not parade itself is

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not puffed up does not behave rudely does not seek its own is not provoked

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thinks no evil does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth Bears

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all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things Love Never Fails but whether there are

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prophecies they will fail whether there are tongues they will cease whether there is knowledge it will vanish away

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for we know in part and we prophesy in part but when that

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which is perfect has come then that which is in part will be done away when I was a child I spoke as a child I

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understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things for now we see in a

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mirror dimly but then face to face now I know in part but then I shall know just as I also am known

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and now abide faith hope love these three but the greatest of these is love

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you'll stand with us once again and we'll sing about Greatest Love of All is when Christ died for us giving us his

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blood to be washed to be saved we sing are you washed in the blood

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I've been to Jesus

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[Music]

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all you want in the blood

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in the soul cleansing blood

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is [Music]

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thank you foreign [Music]

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[Music]

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in the soul cleansing blood

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less

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[Music]

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will your rose [Music]

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[Applause] [Music]

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in the soul cleansing blood of the land

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s

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[Music]

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yeah or you washed in the blood

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in the storm dancing [Music]

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you may be seated

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Father in Heaven great and wonderful is your name and uh we just humbly asked

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your Lord that uh please bless all the cheerful givers here today

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that these ties and offerings may be used to do your will Lord please Grant

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wisdom to the leadership team and know what to do with these and we thank you thank you for everyone that's here and

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please bless them and bless those that are listening to us as well on the live stream and we thank you thank you for

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this day O Lord and in Jesus name amen

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thank you

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foreign

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[Music]

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[Music]

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[Music]

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good morning how are you this morning wonderful great good to see all of you

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well if you would open your Bibles with me to John chapter 10 we are going to turn the corner from uh John chapter 9

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and move on into John chapter 10 and in some ways this continues a narrative

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however mid-stream the narrative is going to switch to a completely different time frame but stay on the

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same type of topic so it'll be an interesting thing because the text itself tells us a particular time frame

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we're not going to reach all the way down into the middle of this today I mean we are going to read the whole

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chapter but we're only going to deal with Lord willing the first 10 verses so be

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thankful that's probably only a two-hour sermon you know ten verses instead of a you know 10 hour sermon or something

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whatever it could be I'm teasing you but there are a lot of other attacks that inform us on this

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text today so we're going to actually do quite a bit of reading in the scripture today to give you the background I hope

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it's enjoyable I hope hope you find it interesting um I am I am wondering though just by

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the title what what passage in the Bible comes into your mind when you read that

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title okay Jesus is the only way but but what

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if you were to tell me a passage in the scripture that deals with a Good Shepherd where would that be found

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Psalm 23 or the 23rd psalm that's right and that's that's going to be one of the passages that we look at this morning

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there are a series of Psalms uh three of them in particular Psalm 22 Psalm 23 and

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Psalm 24 which are called in in scholarship or in biblical studies as

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the shepherd Psalms and even though the middle one is really the only one that talks about the word Shepherd you can

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see from Psalm 22 and then Psalm 24 that they all deal with the same person that

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the 22 23 24 deal with different aspects of the same person and we're gonna we're

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gonna read through Lord willing all of those this morning and talk about them but I want to ask a couple of questions

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before we pray so you can see the you can see the message some of you hopefully know what

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a Shepherd is um Can can you guys do you guys know what a Shepherd is have you ever been a Shepherd anybody's

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ever been a Shepherd in here raise your hand okay good so we're we're going to all

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learn together then now you'll recall maybe a couple years ago or a little over a year ago I think at Christmas

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time uh we passed out books to the families in the church and if you remember that was a book on shepherding

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from from an actual Shepherd's an actual Shepherd's perspective he wrote a book

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Phil Keller Philip Keller and you'll remember he talked about it though in relationship to what the scripture

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teaches and his own understanding of shepherding and so if you have that book

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read it if you never did read it because it will inform you a great deal on what's going to go on here over the next

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month or so a lot about the shepherd and we're going to go right on into Resurrection Sunday if you remember

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coming up right there at the beginning of April so this is a great time to talk about our Shepherd too and again just

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another thing that God works the timing out I don't plan for everything I can't I can't see the future and so it's

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amazing how God works the timing of things and if you by chance don't have one of those books and you're interested

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in that book we still have extra copies in the resource center so just let me or let Mike or you know one of the other

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people in the church know and we'll get you a copy because we have some left over from when we ordered them before

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but let me ask you a couple of questions you follow

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sheep need to follow right do you know you're a sheep sheep need to follow sheep are going to

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follow someone and again we're going to learn in the passage who that should be who that

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could alternately be and then you know the fact that sheep do follow and so all

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right are you drawn to the voice of one Shepherd or many Shepherds

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that's an interesting question isn't it who catches your ear the voice of one

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Shepherd or the voice of many who are you following who are you listening to

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all right now the other question which should be obvious do God's words compel you or do the

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words of men compel you whose Doctrine whose philosophy whose

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teaching do you listen to which one captures your ear the voice of God or

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the voice of men it's a big deal let's pray together and we'll get into

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the sermon and hopefully unravel a lot of this from the text itself

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Heavenly Father you are a good and gracious God you are the almighty God and Father we

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bow humbly before you knowing that we are not God father we are people who you have

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created whom you have created and we have rebelled against you

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and father it is only due to the fact that you set up a plan for salvation A

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Plan of Redemption by your holy son Jesus the Eternal Son of God who came out of heaven

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came down to the Earth put on the Flesh of mankind and died on the cross to pay for sin that any of us have the ability

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to be reconciled with you to be forgiven for our sins to be covered or washed in the blood of

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the lamb as the song We Sing reflects heavenly father I pray today that each

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person here would have that experience that they would know Jesus and they would know him truly

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that they would be covered by his blood through faith that they would believe in him and trust

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him not in their own works or in their own philosophy but in the blood and the

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work of Jesus Heavenly Father Drive each one of us to this understanding draw each one of us

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out of our own sin and our own Rebellion father we pray that each person here

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each person that's hearing on the stream or List watching that they would be drawn to you that you would draw them

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into a loving relationship with yourself father we pray that you would bind the

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church that you have built through your blood and through your death and even through the power of your resurrection

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that you would bind the church together in unity that the believing people might come

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together and they might worship you they might bow and they might bow willingly

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and reverently before the almighty God the one who has offered salvation

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through his son and father help us to be bound together so that we might do the work of the

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Gospel that we might take this message of the Gospel of Jesus out to a dark world

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we know from your word that it is the only way that people can be saved the preaching of the Gospel is the

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mechanism you use to pull Sinners out of the darkness so father we pray that you would allow

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us to do this work you would Empower us and gift us to do it and father that you would drive us on to do it

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that we would not be afraid we wouldn't be shy that we would go out here knowing

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that people will die and go to hell if they don't trust Christ

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father we pray for that and we pray that we again understanding from your word today about how salvation comes who is

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the one who gives salvation who is the one who calls his sheep or his people

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from the darkness of the world father we long to see the truth and know

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the truth help us to stand firm in the truth that we do know give us courage and boldness to walk in

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that truth father I thank you for each one you've sent this morning I pray God that you

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will bless them that you will grow each and every person here and you will you will teach each one of us to be the

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person you've called us to be separated and segregated out in holiness well God then to be a servant and a

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minister of the Glorious gospel father we love you and praise you we

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give you all the glory and we pray father that you would accept our worship this morning we pray in Jesus holy name

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amen all right John chapter 10 let's start in

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verse 1. I want to read the whole chapter as I've done quite a bit as we've gone through the chapters in John like I said I want to do this so that

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you have the full scope of everything that's coming you can see it all in context and you'll know if I'm

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manipulating you or deceiving you as we talked in Sunday school this morning you'll be able to see the whole scope

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and call out my trickery that's a joke

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all right verse 1 in chapter 10. most assuredly I say to you he who does

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not enter the Sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same as a thief and a robber

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but he who enters by the door is The Shepherd of the Sheep to him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his

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voice and he calls his own Sheep by name and leads them out and when he brings

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out his own sheep he goes before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice

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yet they will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him for they

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do not know the voice of strangers Jesus used this illustration but they

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did not understand the things which he spoke to them then Jesus said to them again most

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assuredly I say to you I am the door of the Sheep all whoever came before me are

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thieves and robbers but the Sheep did not hear them I am the door if anyone enters by me he

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will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture the thief does not come

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except to steal and to kill and to destroy I have come that they may have

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life and that they may have it more abundantly I am the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd

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gives his life for the Sheep but a hireling he who is not the

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shepherd one who does not own the Sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and fleas and the Wolf catches the

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sheep and scatters them the hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the

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Sheep I am the Good Shepherd and I know my sheep and am known by my own as the

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father knows me even so I know the father and I lay down my life for the

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Sheep and other sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring and

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they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one Shepherd therefore my father loves me because I

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laid down my life that I may take it again no one takes it from me but I lay it

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down of myself I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again

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this command I have received from my father therefore there was a division among the

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Jews because of these sayings and many of them said he has a demon and is mad why do you listen to him others said

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these are not the words of one who has a demon can a demon Open the Eyes of the blind

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now it was the Feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was Winter and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch

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then the Jews surrounded him and said to him how long do you keep us in doubt if you

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are the Christ that word meaning Messiah tell us plainly Jesus answered them I

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told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name they bear witness of me but you do not

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believe because you are not of my sheep as I said to you my sheep hear my voice

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and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall

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never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand my father who has

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given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my

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father's hand I and my father are one then the Jews took up stones again to

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Stone him Jesus answered them many good works I have shown you from my father for which of those Works do you Stone me

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the Jews answered him saying for a good work we do not Stone you but for blasphemy and because you being a man

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make yourself God Jesus answered them is it not written in

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your law I said you are Gods if he called them Gods to whom the word of God

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came and the scripture cannot be broken do you say of him whom the father Sanctified and sent into the world you

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are blaspheming because I said I am the son of God if I do not do the works of

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my father do not believe me but if I do though you do not believe me believe the

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works that you may know and believe that the father is in me and I in him

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therefore they sought again to seize him but he escaped out of their hand and he went away again beyond the Jordan to the

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place where John was baptizing at first and there he stayed then many came to

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him and said John performed no sign but all the things that John spoke about this man were true and many believed in

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him there okay so that's quite the uh quite the

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narrative isn't it there's a lot to talk about things we've already seen several times aren't there do you notice how

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they picked up stones again to Stone him claiming he's Blasphemous making himself out to be God when he is but a man in

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their mind and we've seen this narrative over and over again here in the Book of John

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but go back to the beginning to verse 1. now it opens up in the new King James

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with this this phrase most assuredly we've seen this before too and I've

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translated this for you in the Greek several times it's it's very easy and it's words you know amen amen

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that's literally how the Greek opens here that being translated most assuredly are the two words the same

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word amen and amen and what is it saying what does amen

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mean when we are men a prayer or we are men a statement what are we saying

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could say Let It Be but a lot a lot of times we'll translate it is true we're affirming the thing being stated

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and Jesus here is doubling it up it is true it is true

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and anytime Jesus does the double thing we know hey open your eyes open your

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ears stop slow down pay attention what he's about to say is really really

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important see how I did the two reallys I didn't want to leave you with one really thinking it was only somewhat important

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it's really really important Jesus is saying look this is true this is true

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pay attention he's doubling that up so that's how he starts this so you ought to pay special attention close attention

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to the words that follow they're important they have deep

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theological meaning okay all right so

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according to verse 6 there's something I want to show you before we we undertake a verse by verse look into this stuff

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but according to verse six if you'll if you'll look down there at the end of the very first section okay before the

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second title their label in the text verse 6 says Jesus used this and in the

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new King James it says illustration you see that illustration now I want you to

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pay close attention to that because that Greek word is paroimia and I know that doesn't mean anything to

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us but what it's talking about is it is an illustration or it is a figure of speech

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the thing he just proclaimed is a figure of speech and it's about a spiritual

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reality now sometimes you might call something like that a parable this is not the same word as Parabola or Parable

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in the New Testament because again it isn't it isn't a parable in that sense

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you might more closely define this word as proverb something along those lines

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so it is a little bit of a story or a little bit of a a little bit of a story

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that is kind of made up to illustrate a truth okay similar to a parable but not

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exactly the same thing we almost always call this a metaphor in our language so

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you might you might look at this as a metaphor for a truth okay so again verse

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6 is telling us that these are the cases where and I some of you some of you who

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we kind of pull off to the side and we do some deeper study into a top effect a

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lot of the time we'll talk about this that the Bible normally should be taken at face value you might say it should be

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taken um you know literally we might say a lot of times

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but taking the Bible fully literally can be a little bit dangerous because there are times when it's using metaphor

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figure of speech so what I generally tell people is look you take it seriously or literally or

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straightforwardly unless the text itself tells you not to here's one of those cases

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it's not telling you that that the things being described are exactly equal to the things that are being taught

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they're like that they're similar to that this is a metaphor for that

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see what I'm saying again we we call a thing that's like her as a simile in

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English language so here we have something that is similar a simile but

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it is a metaphor for a teaching so I know I labored that a good bit but it's

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it's important because this is a beautiful and somewhat complex metaphor about the

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true Shepherd leading us to Salvation but also the false shepherds that have

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other intentions and you saw it there in the text a couple of times to steal Rob kill destroy those kind of

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things so just note there is a there is a juxtaposition if you will

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my wife's not out here okay I can use big language like that if I'm if she's out here she'll accuse me of saying

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things that people don't know juxtaposition only means bringing two things alongside one another you're

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juxtaposing two ideas okay they're they're alongside one another a true shepherd and a false Shepherd okay

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that's what's happening here and it's a really important now when I say complex

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I also want to be careful to Define terms because I don't necessarily mean

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it's hard what I mean by complex is the depth of the background

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the depth of the imagery that the Jews are drawing on when he says these words

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is tremendous in the Old Testament there's a lot of of underlying Shepherd

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language in the Old Testament that they are aware of that they study that they

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know that they apply to God dealing with the house of Israel who is also a nation

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of sheep okay so these the background is complex not that you can't understand it I don't

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mean that the illustration itself is hard because if you're a Believer I'll bet as we read through there you got the

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point pretty quickly that there's a true Shepherd who can come in and the sheep hear him but

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there's a false Shepherd too who they don't come through the door and stuff there's actually two metaphors being

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used here one through five and then seven through ten those verses with six

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kind of giving us a framework to deal with these they're illustrations or Illusions metaphors I shouldn't say

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Illusions metaphors and so again these two illustrations are clear

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and also I want to say something else and I don't often say this stuff but but

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I think we do a lot of work in the Old Testament so I think you already get this intuitively but when we say Old

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Testament I don't mean that it's old in the sense that we should throw it out or shouldn't use it and if you come to our

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Sunday morning Sunday night even sometimes Wednesday night or even some of the preaching I do up here we use the

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Old Testament or the Bible that Jesus and everyone else at the time when he

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walked on the earth used there was no new testament then the Bible was what we refer to as Old

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Testament it isn't old in the sense that we cast it out or it's not useful in fact the entire foundation of the New

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Testament is built right on top of the old without the Old Testament or the the

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early scripture you wouldn't understand much of what's in the New Testament

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and so again I want to make sure that we're all clear on terms but it is the only Bible that people had

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before Jesus died and built his church it might be better for us to say the Bible of the New Testament was the Old

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Testament or something like that just so you're clear with yourself and you make sure when people like Andy

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Stanley or others who are telling you just throw out the Old Testament we don't need it you'll you'll realize that that's

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deceptive and it's it's nonsense don't throw any part of God's word out because Jesus's own words is not one jot or one

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Tittle one these parts of the letters they won't even pass from from the Bible

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from the scripture until it's all fulfilled so just be sure it's not old in the sense that it's gone

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there are two covenants right there's an old Covenant and a new covenant that's generally how the scripture is divided

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up we have everything dealing with faith before Jesus died and

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then we have the blood of Christ being applied and known to everything following of course

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Christ's blood still applies to the old two but they were looking forward waiting on God to send the Messiah of

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the Savior everything after he's now here he's died we know his name and so

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we call it new in the sense it's a New Covenant but the Bible itself is one

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full revelation of God cover to cover and every page is about

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Jesus every page has to do with your savior if you've trusted Christ okay now

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let's do some leg work so keep your place here in in the text and turn back with me to the Psalms

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turn back with me to Psalm 22 Psalm 22 now

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we're going to read this first because it comes first in order you are much more familiar I'm sure with Psalm 23 but

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it was not very long ago we had someone during the scripture reading read Psalm

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22 but we have talked about over the years the last few years we have talked

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about Jesus being crucified in Psalm 22 is a prayer or it is a Psalm of David

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it's a song that he wrote but it has prophetic reflections of things that

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Jesus the Messiah deals with on the cross things that

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David never experienced and David wrote down through the power of the Holy Spirit a thousand years before Jesus

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came and actually suffered on a cross so pay special attention and look at

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this Psalm it's really important because this is the first of the shepherd Psalms

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and it and it illustrates for us someone that you should become familiar with called the Great Shepherd

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and so let's let's read and I'll try to go quickly my God my God why have you forsaken me

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why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning oh my God

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I cry in the daytime but you do not hear and in the night season and am not silent but you are holy enthroned in the

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Praises of Israel our fathers trusted in you they trusted and you delivered them they cried to you and were delivered

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they trusted in you and were not ashamed but I am a worm and no man a reproach of

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men and despised by the people all those who see me ridicule me they shoot out

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the lip they shake the head saying he trusted in Yahweh let him rescue him let

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him deliver him since he Delights in him but you are he who took me out of the

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womb you made me trust while on my mother's breasts I was cast upon you from birth from my mother's womb you

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have been my God be not far from me for trouble is near for there is none to

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help many bulls have surrounded me strong Bulls of Bashan have encircled me

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they gape at me with their mouths like a raging and roaring lion I am poured out

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like water and all my bones are out of joint my heart is like Wax it has melted

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within me my strength is dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue clings to my

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jaws you have brought me to the dust of death for dogs have surrounded me the

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congregation of the wicked has enclosed me they pierced my hands and my feet I

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count all my bones they look and stare at me they divide my garments among them

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and for my clothing they cast lots but you o Yahweh do not be far from me o

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my strength hasten to help me deliver me from The Sword my precious

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life from the power of the dog save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns

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of the wild oxen you have answered me I will declare your name to my brethren in

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the midst of the assembly I will praise you you who fear Yahweh praise him all

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you descendants of Jacob glorify him and fear Him all you offspring of Israel for

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he is not despised nor aboard the Affliction of The Afflicted nor has he hidden his face from him but when he

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cried to him he heard my praise shall be of you in the great assembly I will pay

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my vows before those who fear me the poor shall eat and be satisfied those

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who seek Him will praise Yahweh Let Your Hearts Live Forever all the ends of the

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world shall remember and turn to Yahweh and all the families of the nation shall worship before you for the kingdom is

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Yahweh and he rules over the Nations all the prosperous of the Earth shall eat and worship all all those who go down to

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the dust shall bow before him even he who cannot keep himself alive a

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posterity Shall Serve him it will be recounted of Yahweh to the Next Generation they will come and declare

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his righteousness to a people who will be born that he has done this

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amen and so you saw hopefully the allusions to Jesus on a cross right

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they pierced his hands and his feet they cast lots and divided and parted his

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garments he was surrounded by all those mocking him while he was up there they

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were gazing at him and they said they said even well let God save him if he's really from God right

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you can recall some of those and if you can't recall some of that in the weeks ahead leading up to Resurrection Sunday

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and probably on Resurrection Sunday we'll talk more about the crucifixion of Christ and and deal specifically but

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here are Illusions one thousand years from the mouth of the Prophet David through the holy spirit that deal with

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the Christ and then you'll notice the end of that Psalm the end of that Psalm dealt with something that we have not

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seen on this Earth yet have we there are Kingdom years coming when the Lord will rule and Reign on the earth as the king

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and there will be all nations who come up to him and worship him and

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are saved this is a thing that has not taken place yet

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when the whole earth worships and all of these will come and declare righteousness and so that is that is

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something yet future but here we have the great Shepherd dying for his people

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and I don't know if you caught it back in John 10 but he said I lay down my life for the Sheep

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and that is a that's a pattern used over and over and over in the gospels in the

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writings of the Apostles and all the New Testament this pattern it's it's it's a

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foreshadowed and it's prophesied in the old as here as in

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Isaiah 53 if you're familiar with with the suffering servant passage it's prophesied but it actually took place in

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Jesus in the Messiah the one we have been really giving all of the glory and honor to

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through the Book of John right the very one who is the word of God who

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was with God and was God before the foundation of the world and nothing was made that was made that was nothing was

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made that wasn't made without him he made all of the things that are made the Earth you think about this and yet

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he leaves heaven this great Shepherd to come down to the

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Earth puts on the Flesh of his own creation and he dies shedding his blood and paying for sin

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he becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world we saw that

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earlier in John and so some of these illustrations and Illusions you should be clear with but I want you to see this

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great Shepherd psalm okay this is really important now let me read you this from Hebrews because again

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I don't want you to lose this illustration or think that the people in the early church and the apostles that

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they were not aware of this here's Hebrews 13 starting at verse 20.

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now may the God of Peace who brought up our lord Jesus from the dead that great

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Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you complete in every good work to do his

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will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever

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amen this is in the very last chapter of the book of Hebrews and the writer of

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Hebrews and again we don't have to talk about it being Paul who I think it was we don't know for sure but that's my

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opinion whoever it was takes this picture of the great Shepherd talking about him dying

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and shedding his blood for the sheep and illustrates it right there at the end of the book of Hebrews and he even ties it

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to Jesus's blood which is the Everlasting or the New Covenant

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and again if you turn to we don't have to do it now but if you turn to Jeremiah 31 31 you would read about the New

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Covenant and again this is an Old Testament illusion an illustration that for

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prophecy that points to Jesus the Messiah the one who would come and who

55:53

would die for sin okay so now on to Psalm 23 because again

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this now 22 is the longest one the other two are much shorter Psalm 23 and this is the one you're

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probably most familiar with and this illustrates for us the title The Good Shepherd and that's

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why I put I put the title of this sermon as the Good Shepherd because this Psalm

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and then also verse 11 back in John 10.

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makes uses this exact terminology the Good Shepherd

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okay so here's the Good Shepherd from psalm 23. Yahweh is my shepherd I shall not want

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he makes me to lie down in Green Pastures he leads me beside the Still

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Waters he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his

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name's sake yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your

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rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my

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head with oil my cup runs over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will

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dwell in the house of the Lord forever or the house of Yahweh forever I was

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trying to read those all as Yahweh because you know Capital Lord is the name of God and I know we're all

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familiar with the Lord is my shepherd but that's not actually what the Hebrew text says it says Yahweh is my shepherd

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the name of God is used there so it's really important that we get that right because it's pointing to one

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who will come and be The Shepherd of the Sheep and this Shepherd is the Good Shepherd

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did you see anything that he was going to do to the sheep that was mean or evil or Wicked

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no all you see is good stuff that he's going to provide he's going to provide in every way and while he does have a

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rod of Correction in his hand right even that shows me that he loves me that he's

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turning me away from sin and away from air and turning me back where it's safe

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think about a shepherd and what they do a Shepherd goes out to lead the flock right and the Good Shepherd has the

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Sheep's best interest in mind the shepherd who owns the Sheep as we

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read back in the passage if you remember he doesn't run when danger comes he

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doesn't flee from the sheep and leave them to fend for themselves against the Wolves what does he do stands and fights

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he has a staff and he has a rod and he has tools we know King David who was a

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Shepherd he claimed himself that with his bare hands and he might have met with a knife or whatever but he killed a

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lion probably a mountain lion and a bear that we're trying to attack his flock

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and so think about King Jesus Our Shepherd the Good Shepherd how does he

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lead us well not only does he protect us but he provides all of this food and all of this pasture all of this peace

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that's the Good Shepherd providing for his people the great Shepherd died for his people the Good Shepherd is

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providing for his people caring for his people protecting his people and these pictures are beautiful and

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when you start to get the imagery and you start to see how these Psalms are laid out and and some of them are in

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little packages together the shepherd Psalms and now let's move to 24 because

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there's another image that we need of the Messiah not only the one who would

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sacrifice himself and give himself up for the life of the sheep to provide them eternal life

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but the one who cares for them and the one who is going to love them and protect them and guard them lead them

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but now we have another picture that we need to see about the shepherd and look it just so happens accidentally by

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random chance to be the next Psalm in the Psalms

1:00:00

you know I don't believe in random chance random random or chance luck that's not

1:00:07

a kosher word look at verse 24.

1:00:13

the Earth is yahweh's in all its fullness the world and those who dwell

1:00:18

therein for he has founded it upon the Seas and established it upon the waters

1:00:24

who may Ascend into the hill of Yahweh or who may stand in his holy place he

1:00:30

who has Clean Hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul to an idol

1:00:35

nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive blessing from Yahweh and righteousness

1:00:41

from the god of his salvation this is Jacob the generation of those who seek

1:00:46

Him who seek your face say law lift up your heads o you Gates and be lifted up

1:00:52

you Everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of

1:00:58

glory Yahweh strong and mighty Yahweh Mighty in battle lift up your heads o

1:01:04

you Gates lift up you Everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who

1:01:11

is this king of glory Yahweh of hosts he is the king of glory say law

1:01:18

isn't that amazing who is this glorious or the way they

1:01:26

dealt with this in ancient times or Scholars do today is this is the chief

1:01:31

Shepherd this is the chief Shepherd and they they use that as a reflection because we see

1:01:36

it in First Peter it's used but you in my mind you could call him the chief or the Glorious Shepherd

1:01:43

because again one day he is going to come in power and great glory and he is

1:01:49

going to set up a kingdom and guess who is going to be in his kingdom sheep of flock

1:01:55

this this wonderful glorious or chief Shepherd will be the one sitting on the

1:02:01

throne revived the revived Throne of King David and we'll look at that more

1:02:06

in a few minutes the revived Throne of King David actually ruling and reigning on the earth as the king

1:02:13

and as The Shepherd of his people how amazing is that psalm how amazing

1:02:19

are those three Psalms when you put them all together ah I hope you're as excited as I am I'm

1:02:26

not hearing much uh action out here but I hope it's hitting you in your heart where it belongs because man

1:02:32

this is the shepherd this is the one who died for you if you are a Believer if you are in

1:02:39

God's Sheepfold he died for you he set all of this up

1:02:45

he made a way for you to be saved even though you're Fallen he made a way to

1:02:50

care for you to protect you provide for you and ultimately he's giving you an

1:02:56

eternal Kingdom it's a kingdom that starts with a thousand years but it is a kingdom that goes right on into eternity

1:03:04

and who is this king of glory Yahweh of hosts and we know this very King in the

1:03:10

New Testament is called Jesus oh man

1:03:15

that's exciting stuff all right so there's one more thing we have to do as far as homework goes

1:03:22

though flip over with me to Ezekiel 34. so we have now the shepherd the true

1:03:29

Shepherd the real Shepherd the great Shepherd the Good Shepherd the chief Shepherd glorious Shepherd whatever you

1:03:36

want to call him he is the one who is on the true side but you'll remember from John chapter 10

1:03:42

there were also false Shepherds so where do we learn about those false Shepherds

1:03:48

well in Ezekiel 34 is one of these places to learn about these false

1:03:53

Shepherds and it it gives us a very clear indication of who these are

1:04:01

let's go to verse 1 in chapter 34. and the word of Yahweh came to me saying

1:04:08

son of man prophesy against the Shepherds of Israel prophesy and say to

1:04:13

them thus says it says the Lord God which by the way in the Hebrew that is

1:04:20

Adonai Yahweh in conjunction so the Adonai is the word for Lord Yahweh is the name of God and while it isn't in

1:04:27

all capital letters the same as we see other ones you'll notice that the word God is in capital letters because it's

1:04:34

translating Adonai Yahweh underneath in the Hebrew so anyway just want you to know that thus says Adonai Yahweh to the

1:04:41

Shepherds woe to the Shepherds of Israel who feed themselves should not the Shepherds feed the flocks you eat the

1:04:48

fat and clothe the yourselves with the wool you Slaughter the fatlings but you do not feed the flock the weak you have

1:04:55

not strengthened nor have you healed those who were sick nor bound up the broken nor brought back what was driven

1:05:02

away nor sought that which was lost but with force and cruelty you have ruled

1:05:07

them so they were scattered because there was no Shepherd and they became food for all the beasts of the field

1:05:14

when they were scattered my sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every High Hill yes my flock was

1:05:22

scattered over the whole face of the Earth and no one was seeking or searching for them therefore you

1:05:28

Shepherds hear the word of Yahweh as I live says Adonai Yahweh surely because

1:05:34

my flock became a prey and my flock became food became food for every beast of the field

1:05:41

because there was no Shepherd nor did my shepherd search for my flock but the

1:05:47

Shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock therefore o Shepherds hear the word of Yahweh thus says Adonai

1:05:54

Yahweh behold I am against the Shepherds and I will require my flock at their

1:06:00

hand I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep and the Shepherds shall feed themselves no more for I will deliver my

1:06:06

flock from their mouths that they may no longer be food for them for thus says Adonai Yahweh indeed I

1:06:14

myself will search for my sheep and seek them out as a Shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among

1:06:20

on the day he is among his scattered sheep so will I seek out my sheep and

1:06:27

deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark

1:06:32

day and I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their

1:06:38

own land I will feed them on the mountains of Israel in The Valleys in an all-inhabited places of the country

1:06:44

I will feed them in good pastures and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel there they shall lie

1:06:52

down in a good fold and feed and Rich pasture on the mountains of Israel I will feed my flock and I will make them

1:06:58

lie down says Adonai Yahweh I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away bind up the broken and

1:07:05

strengthen what is sick but I will destroy the fat in the strong and feed them in judgment

1:07:12

and as for you o my flock thus says Adonai Yahweh behold I shall judge

1:07:17

between sheep and sheep between Rams and goats is it too little for you to have eaten

1:07:23

up the good pasture that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture and to have drunk of the clear

1:07:30

waters that you must foul the residue with your feet and as for me my flock they they eat

1:07:37

what you have trampled with your feet and they drink what you have fouled with your feet

1:07:43

therefore thus says Adonai Yahweh to them behold I myself will judge between

1:07:48

the fat and the lean sheep because you have pushed with side and shoulder but

1:07:54

at all the weak ones with your horns and Scattered them abroad therefore I will save my flock and they shall no longer

1:08:01

be a prey and I will judge between sheep and sheep I will establish one Shepherd over them

1:08:08

and he shall feed them my servant David he shall feed them and be their Shepherd

1:08:13

and I Yahweh will be their God and my servant David a prince among them I

1:08:19

Yahweh have spoken I will make a covenant of peace with them and cause wild beasts to cease from

1:08:26

the land and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods I will make them I will make them and the

1:08:33

places all around my Hill a blessing and I will cause showers to come down in

1:08:39

their season there shall be Showers of blessing then the Trees of the field shall yield their yield their fruit and

1:08:46

the Earth shall yield her increase they shall be safe in their land and they shall know that I am Yahweh when I have

1:08:53

broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them and they shall no

1:08:59

longer be a prey for the Nations nor shall Beasts of the land devour them but

1:09:05

they shall dwell safely and no one shall make them afraid I will raise up for them a garden of

1:09:11

renown and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land nor bear The Shame of the Gentiles anymore

1:09:18

thus they shall know that I the Lord or Yahweh their God am with them and they

1:09:24

they the house of Israel are my people says Adonai Yahweh you are my flock the

1:09:31

flock of my pasture you are men and I am your God says Adonai Yahweh

1:09:38

that's a lengthy reading but did you catch all of that and again we don't have to break it all down but you saw

1:09:44

some major themes there right you saw Wicked Shepherds taking advantage of the people

1:09:49

misusing them and not only just consuming everything that was there but spoiling what was left and trying to

1:09:56

give it to God's people and then you have someone else in the picture there seemed to be another

1:10:03

Shepherd who was going to care for his people re-gather the scattered people

1:10:08

bring them back into their land and then set them up as a glorious people with

1:10:13

plenty of food with protection no one will make them afraid he will have food to the full in Israel

1:10:21

this is what God has done if you notice in our day we get to see some of what

1:10:27

was said here already happening while Israel at one point in history under the

1:10:33

Romans was scattered all over the face of the Earth and very few Jews or

1:10:39

Israelis lived in Israel for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years

1:10:44

and now in our day starting sometime in the late 1800s God has regathered his

1:10:50

people and in 1948 they were declared once again the nation of Israel and they

1:10:56

now live back in their land and then today they have been there for more than 70 years nearly 75 years they have been

1:11:04

regathered into their land how close do you think we are to that Shepherd coming to bring his kingdom after regathering

1:11:12

his people that were scattered oh we're so close but I want you to see

1:11:18

the contrast in Ezekiel 34 I know it was a long Passage but did you notice the

1:11:24

wicked and the Good Shepherd and they're right there and they're both put in juxtaposition with one another it

1:11:31

couldn't be more clear and you turn back to John 10 and now

1:11:37

when you're back in John 10 and you have these glorious psalms about the great

1:11:43

and Good Shepherd and glorious Shepherd and you have you have Ezekiel 34 telling

1:11:49

you about the wicked Shepherds as compared to God or the Good Shepherd and

1:11:54

now you come back to John and we read once again let me read for you the first five verses

1:12:00

and you tell me if you don't have a new understanding about what these verses say

1:12:06

listen most assuredly I say to you he who does

1:12:13

not enter the Sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same as a

1:12:18

thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is The Shepherd of the Sheep to

1:12:23

him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own Sheep by name and leads them out

1:12:31

and when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the Sheep follow him for they know his voice yet they

1:12:38

will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him for they do not know

1:12:44

the voice of strangers does that ring a little bit differently

1:12:49

with all of that background you you have to understand even if your ears didn't

1:12:55

catch it all the people standing in front of Jesus when he said these words

1:13:00

those idioms and those prophecies and those passages would be ringing in their

1:13:06

ears those are the scriptures they knew and they had and they studied day by day and

1:13:12

when they heard Jesus speak these words they some of them I'm sure knew exactly

1:13:18

what he was talking about even if they didn't get the exact illustration he was trying to

1:13:24

make they knew the background and now you know the background and now you can hear

1:13:30

those words and hopefully rightly divide this passage there are so many in the church who try

1:13:37

to make this something that it isn't or use things here that don't belong

1:13:42

and let's start talking about them so

1:13:47

let me read you this from Luke chapter one just to get us started and get us going

1:13:53

um I told you before I I think I said that or maybe I didn't say it actually as we read through there you notice

1:13:59

there was a name used that God was going to bring one Shepherd and in Ezekiel 34

1:14:04

he called his name David did you see that okay so what this is is actually an

1:14:10

illustration not to Jesus's name being David but Jesus is the son of David and

1:14:16

you need to know in in in Messianic Jewish in circles that are Jewish where

1:14:24

they were talking about the Messiah I want to be careful I want to say Messianic Jew because then you'll think they're Christians what I'm talking

1:14:30

about are Jews who would talk about the Messiah rabbis that would teach about the Messiah they actually because of

1:14:36

scripture because of passages like that one they actually thought maybe two Messiahs were going to come one Messiah

1:14:44

Ben Ben being the son Messiah Ben Joseph

1:14:50

they believe that would be one Messiah who would show up but then they also believed that there was a messiah Ben

1:14:55

David the son of David and that one is him setting up the Kingdom right you could just imagine the illustrations

1:15:01

David's a king the Messiah will be a king he will come in and set up this Kingdom for us we see that over and over

1:15:08

in the New Testament but they actually kind of pictured the Messiahs possibly being two separate people because he has

1:15:14

almost two separate missions now today we don't get a lot of that in Judaism because they do whatever they

1:15:20

can to erase Jesus from the picture a race Christian thought anything that has to do with Jesus they want to make sure

1:15:27

that you don't even read Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22 with Jesus in the middle of it

1:15:34

but in in the old days if you go into the talmud the mishnah there there's a

1:15:39

lot of talk about these two Messiahs and so here we have let me read you Luke chapter one

1:15:46

just so you can kind of fit this in this is in the very first chapter of Luke listen to this

1:15:52

because this solves it all for us and we don't have to question the way they did

1:15:57

and behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth the son and shall call his name Jesus you've heard this

1:16:05

before right okay this is the birth story right the coming of Jesus that Luke records we use

1:16:11

this a lot at Christmas time right Luke 1 Luke 2. he will be great and will be

1:16:17

called the son of the highest and the lord god notice notice that phrasing because that's the way Adonai Yahweh was

1:16:24

translated in the Old Testament that's not what this is here but it just struck me we'll give him the Throne of his

1:16:31

father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his

1:16:36

kingdom there will be no end did you put it together do you see that the David being spoken

1:16:44

of isn't going to be named David he's the son of David he see in Hebrew a

1:16:50

progenitor can be called the same thing right you you can say well that's David meaning

1:16:57

he's coming from David they don't have all the separate words for things like we do even the word

1:17:03

father is the same for grandfather or great-grandfather those are the same words in Hebrew so again they don't they

1:17:11

don't break it all down like we do in English in other languages that when you say that he's they have Abraham as their

1:17:18

father they don't mean Abraham was their dad they mean Abraham is their progenitor they come from the line of

1:17:25

Abraham and here in Luke you get to see Luke through the power of the Holy Spirit tie that together in a little bow

1:17:32

so you don't even have to question it Jesus will be the one on the throne of David and he is given the Eternal

1:17:39

Kingdom and he will be the one in that Eternal Kingdom ruling and reigning how wonderful is this to have a few little

1:17:46

verses here that just clear all that theology up and you don't you don't have to suffer because I can't tell you the

1:17:53

number of times I've been told over the years by people who carry different eschatological or end times Doctrine

1:17:59

than I do that David will be sitting on the throne in Israel in the Kingdom

1:18:05

yeah there are people who believe it and again because they don't read verses like this that just

1:18:11

put it all together give you the understanding and you don't have to wrestle with it anymore

1:18:17

well back in John you'll notice here as we start to go through this text that we just read these first five verses you'll

1:18:24

notice that this idea of a Sheepfold comes up and a door so what is a Sheepfold so I think most

1:18:31

of you know a Sheepfold is a pin and again it could be different sizes you know if you have a family sheep fold

1:18:37

at your house and you only have a handful of sheep it could be quite small but sometimes these were could be quite

1:18:42

large areas because they sit at the edge of a town or maybe right in inside of a the edge of a town and lots of shepherds

1:18:51

who are grazing their sheep which you know could be anywhere from probably tens to dozens to you know hundreds of

1:18:58

sheep would come to these sheepfolds in the town and there there was obviously a door a gate something to get in but

1:19:05

there was almost always a door keeper too and we'll talk about that in a moment but this Sheepfold is where the

1:19:11

Shepherds would bring and drop off their sheep the this place this family or whoever it was that would be guarding

1:19:17

these had them in mostly these were these weren't fenced with wooden fences the way we kind of do fencing today most

1:19:25

of the time they were rock walls and and they would be a varying Heights but enough that a sheep couldn't come out of

1:19:30

it or a goat couldn't jump over it and so they would put them in these pins and

1:19:36

then the Guardians of this place or the place that ran this they would protect the Sheep while the person goes into

1:19:42

town and gets supplies or potentially may even stay overnight if it's evening and in the city and then come back out

1:19:47

collect the sheep and go back out and graze them some more okay so this is kind of the way it worked in Gregorian

1:19:55

or shepherding communities so you have a Sheepfold now who is this Sheepfold in

1:20:01

our illustration and I'm hoping that you you were able to pick that out of of Ezekiel chapter 34. I hope you saw over

1:20:10

and over who the Sheepfold was in view there because it's the same one Jesus is

1:20:16

preaching to here it's the nation of Israel these are the Jewish people

1:20:22

and you'll notice it's interesting about that that there are some in Israel who

1:20:29

belong to the shepherd but there are others who don't

1:20:34

right the illustration that he uses is right when the shepherd shows up at the

1:20:39

door won the gatekeeper the porter sometimes you'll hear them called they'll let the shepherd actually in and

1:20:48

when he calls not every sheep in the fold comes running why and again he Illustrated this and

1:20:55

talked about it because my sheep hear my voice and they follow me and if you've ever watched a Shepherd have you ever

1:21:01

watched the YouTube videos where a Shepherd where they they have sheep out in the field it's amazing go pull up a

1:21:09

YouTube video of an actual Shepherd calling his sheep because they'll have mixed groups of sheep or maybe you know

1:21:15

sheep that are just grazing and doing their thing all over this Sheepfold or this this field

1:21:20

and they'll have lots of people come up to the fences and yell at these sheep and they'll shout everything they'll

1:21:26

make all sorts of noises whistle at the Sheep the Sheep don't pay them any mind I mean every one of these people they

1:21:33

just ignore them and they go right on eating or doing whatever they're doing they do not come they don't even look at

1:21:38

them and then the shepherd comes up and he makes some little noise he'll whistle or

1:21:43

do whatever little noise he does to get his sheep's attention and every head on

1:21:48

every sheep snaps around and looks right at that Shepherd it's fascinating because for us we're

1:21:56

not used to sheep right we're I mean you could go around here and find some Shepherds and some sheep but we do it in

1:22:02

barnyards and they're not grazing them all over the place so we don't even get to see the thing that's being talked

1:22:08

about here in the ancient times they would graze them all over the open pastures you know all over the

1:22:13

countryside even probably here in America they probably did this in the old days before everything was fenced

1:22:19

and walled but today we raise them in barnyards and fenced in areas that we owned the

1:22:24

property for so we don't even see it but go watch those videos because that Shepherd speaks and those sheep

1:22:32

immediately respond and if he uses whatever signal or word to call them

1:22:37

they come running and again an interesting thing about a Shepherd in one of these sheepfolds

1:22:44

if he goes in remember in ancient times they're all mixed with other people's sheep and they're all grazing around the

1:22:51

Sheep are just doing whatever they do that Shepherd walks in there does his little word or his little sound whatever

1:22:57

it is and all his sheep just come out of the rest and then notice the shepherd there he

1:23:05

leads them out through the door even when we have open rain shepherding

1:23:10

like out west where they have large you know ranches and stuff most of the time we're driving the sheep with with dogs

1:23:18

and stuff like that on Horseback and we're driving the animals from place to place that's not how it worked in the

1:23:24

ancient times and that's not the illustration being used Jesus is saying I'm the shepherd and

1:23:29

when I speak my sheep hear my voice and when I go out the door when I go out

1:23:34

through the gate they follow me when I speak they hear when I go they

1:23:40

follow you've got to get that illustration you got to get that picture

1:23:47

it's huge and it and it illustrates what he is saying here and you don't want to confuse these words this is important

1:23:54

because you can go look this passage up and you'll find plenty of people saying well this is the church

1:24:02

you'll have Cults like the ones behind us here who will say well we're the Sheep of a different fold

1:24:10

you can very easily be misled or misunderstand these illustrations if you

1:24:16

don't put them in the Biblical context that we did this morning no this is the house of Israel

1:24:23

some of it God's sheep some of it not

1:24:28

you see that when Jesus comes to his sheep and he comes to his own his flock

1:24:34

and he makes the noise he makes the words he calls them and and there's more to it he calls them by name if you'll

1:24:41

notice he knows each and every individual sheep and I've heard pastors and preachers go on about you know he

1:24:47

knows your name and you know every every relationship is is clear and then you go

1:24:52

into illustrations about how we even name our animals and so ancient Shepherds would name all their sheep

1:24:58

different stuff you know that's fluffy and curly and you know that's Brownie and whatever

1:25:03

we can get those illustrations I don't think that's the most important the most important thing is is the shepherd knows

1:25:09

every one of his Sheep by name there is a personal relationship with his sheep

1:25:15

every one of them there isn't one of them in fact all the illustrations used through the New

1:25:21

Testament especially in the gospels by Jesus do you remember those about the Sheep

1:25:27

he talks about if one sheep wanders off away what happens the shepherd leaves

1:25:34

the 99 and goes off and gets the one sheep and brings it back that one sheep

1:25:39

is that important don't miss all of these illustrations all this Rich depth that is underlying

1:25:47

this from the Old Testament from the gospels from these stories in these in these illustrations that Jesus has used

1:25:54

this Sheepfold is the nation of Israel and when Jesus shows up the great the

1:26:00

good and the Glorious Shepherd or the chief Shepherd and he calls his sheep

1:26:06

come out but you'll notice there are a lot of sheep who don't come out

1:26:12

there are a lot of the nation of Israel who don't trust they don't follow they

1:26:18

don't believe and so make sure you get these pictures

1:26:24

now the door itself is easy enough and we have to talk about it a little bit

1:26:29

because there are two different ways the door is used right illustration one verses one through five

1:26:36

Jesus the shepherd goes through the door and the door is opened by a gatekeeper

1:26:42

who's that GateKeeper and again I'm going to shorten this like we could go on into more on this but I'm

1:26:48

going to shorten this many scholars will say it's God the Father many scholars will say it's God

1:26:53

the Holy Spirit I'm going to shorten this and make this easier for us because I think I think we could prove this out

1:26:59

and I'm going to show you one illustration that jumps along this but I think it's God himself

1:27:05

and it doesn't matter if you want to say it's God the Father God the son or God the Holy Spirit God himself opens doors

1:27:11

and closes doors okay that's clear we all know John 14 6 where Jesus said I'm

1:27:17

the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father except through me so the second illustration is the one he

1:27:23

leverages I am the way I am the only way the door the way into salvation that's

1:27:29

Jesus that's illustration too but the first illustration we can even see Jesus

1:27:35

in this picture If I Could Turn My Page we can see Jesus in this picture

1:27:44

um look at this in Revelation chapter 3 verses 7 to 8 so this this door and the

1:27:51

door keeper the one allowing entry in and out

1:27:57

Revelation 3 chapter 7 and or chapter 3 verses 7 and 8 and the angel of the

1:28:03

church in Philadelphia right these things says he who is Holy he who is

1:28:08

true he who has the Key of David he who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no

1:28:15

one opens I know your Works see I have set before you an open door and no one

1:28:21

can shut it for you have a little strength have kept my word and have not

1:28:26

denied my name now that clearly shows Jesus as being the one who opens and shuts the doors

1:28:32

and so but you could also find reference to the father doing this or the Holy Spirit doing this there are almost 250

1:28:39

verses in the scripture that deal with the door and so plenty of them are just

1:28:45

adore you know but some of them are allusions to a door being opened or a door being closed Paul said you know a

1:28:52

door of opportunity of ministry has been open to us right in in Macedonia and

1:28:57

stuff like that so so I think you can find these or understand these illustrations

1:29:03

so back to John 10 we also have then here he illustrates

1:29:10

for us there are these who as opposed to the shepherd who walks through the door

1:29:16

the door keeper opens the door and lets that Shepherd in because he actually has sheep in there he goes in calls his

1:29:24

sheep out they come out there are others though who if they went to the doorkeeper the doorkeeper would say

1:29:29

you're not allowed in and why would they do that because he doesn't have any sheep in there but what

1:29:35

do they do they're not okay with that because remember there are others who come not to do what's good for the Sheep

1:29:43

protect sheep care for the Sheep they come to steal they come to Rob they come to destroy or kill and so they don't go

1:29:50

through the door what do they do they climb up some other way they climb up around the walls into the Sheepfold and

1:29:58

what do they do they steal sheep or maybe they take wool or they do things that are they may be they're an enemy

1:30:04

and they kill the Sheep or they destroy or they poison the Sheep

1:30:09

they bring in deception and heresy and because again remember while we're using

1:30:14

sheep as an illustration verse 6 tells us it's just an illustration it is really an illustration

1:30:22

and so the ones who are coming in to the Sheep some of them are liars some of them are

1:30:28

deceivers some of them want you dead or deceived

1:30:33

they don't care about you or maybe they want your money they want something from you so they

1:30:40

come to rob you their thiefs are robbers notice several places in there these

1:30:45

Wicked Shepherds have ulterior motives and it's defined a few times in the

1:30:50

passage we saw it in Ezekiel 34 they have ulterior motives they were

1:30:55

consuming and they were eating up all the stuff and they weren't feeding the flock well and even the stuff that they

1:31:01

didn't eat they corrupted it so that when the actual flock of God feeds on it

1:31:08

they're eating the corrupted food the drinking the dirty water if you if you caught that in the illustration

1:31:14

but The Shepherd of the sheep he isn't like that John 10 27 if you glance down a little further in the passage Jesus

1:31:21

says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me we quote that a lot generally we shorten

1:31:28

it to write my sheep hear my voice and they follow me but he says in there and I know them

1:31:34

before he said I called them by name each one I call them out by name

1:31:39

Jesus has an intimate relationship now Jesus is sheep that are in this pen the

1:31:46

ones who hear his voice and call and follow him I think you already have this but these are the elect of God

1:31:53

these are the ones from the foundation of the world God has already marked out these will be the ones who are saved

1:31:59

they're predestined to be conformed to the image of my son John 6 37 says all

1:32:06

that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will by no

1:32:11

means cast out and again we've been through John 6 and we talked about this right that's the

1:32:17

passage that shows God throwing the thing over here and dragging people to himself right

1:32:24

remember in the text in English it said draw but we dealt with that it's not draw like in hey come here like this

1:32:32

it's not a beckon it's a he puts a lasso around you or throws a bucket into a

1:32:37

well and drags the water up out of it because that's pretty much what it feels

1:32:42

like if God pulls somebody right we go Kicking and Screaming even though

1:32:48

salvation is over there why because we're in darkness nobody in darkness wants the light but

1:32:55

if God Saves you and changes your heart he drags you over to the light then once

1:33:01

you're there you have the Holy Spirit you're sealed and things change but while you're in the darkness and God is

1:33:06

dragging you over it's a fight it's a fight the Sheep are the elect of God and

1:33:13

that's why you can see this Sheepfold as the nation of Israel yet there are some sheep in here who are gods they belong

1:33:20

to God and he is calling them out and leading them out

1:33:25

and of course the doorkeeper God himself opens or shuts allows people in or out

1:33:32

do you see the whole illustration the whole illustration is about salvation

1:33:38

and it's about the one who grants salvation it's about the one who leads his people

1:33:45

there they belong to God God gave them to Jesus God the father in that sense

1:33:50

Jesus said I won't lose a single one who God the father has given me you know that you're in my hand who can

1:33:57

take you out of my hand Jesus said my father is greater than all and I and

1:34:02

where and you're in his hand who can take you out of my father's hand well if he's greater than all nobody can you're

1:34:08

in Jesus's hands you're in the hand of the father and you're sealed with the Holy Spirit on the inside

1:34:15

who can separate you from the love of God well as the passage says not heightened nor depth No Angel no demon

1:34:23

nothing can separate you from the love of God if you're a Believer and you're in Christ Jesus

1:34:29

you are safe and secure because God has elected you to Salvation

1:34:35

and we pray and this is the conclusion I know you probably feel like it's getting long but

1:34:41

the conclusion of the whole thing is you should hear the voice of the

1:34:46

shepherd and turn away from your sin and follow Jesus he's already paid for sin he's already

1:34:54

died he's already come and he has been that great Shepherd who gave up his life

1:35:00

for the Sheep laid down his life for the Sheep he's already done it so if you're

1:35:05

hearing the voice of God yield believe

1:35:12

and if you belong to God listen to his voice and follow

1:35:17

hear the voice of God now where do we hear the voice of God most clearly

1:35:23

where is the voice of God coming from most clearly right now yeah I hope you're holding up your Bible

1:35:28

or at least thinking the word bible because most clearly you're going to hear God's voice Through the Bible

1:35:35

and so if you want to hear God speak you will open your Bible and read it if you want to hear God Speak Out Loud

1:35:41

Justin Peters thanks for this quote read it out loud

1:35:47

I love that quote well hopefully you will yield yourself to the Lord whether

1:35:52

you're a Believer an unbeliever a unbeliever to Faith and a Believer to righteousness and following and good

1:35:59

works but that's that's for today and as we move forward those things are going to

1:36:04

be important for the rest of this illustration so anyway let's pray

1:36:09

heavenly father thank you again for your love for your word for the Salvation that

1:36:15

you've worked through your son Jesus God we pray that each of us will have ears that are open eyes that are open

1:36:22

and hearts that are soft and yielding God we pray that you will turn many people away from their sin and to you

1:36:29

and father that you will draw your people to do what you've said and to follow you and listen to your word and

1:36:36

hear your voice you have told us in your word a couple of times Old Testament New Testament that we are to live by every

1:36:42

word that proceeds from your mouth so God teach us to do so love you and

1:36:47

praise you I pray that you'll bless each one of these walk with them all week and allow allow them to do your will and to

1:36:53

accomplish your purposes we pray in Jesus's holy name amen thank you