July 10, 2022 Sunday Worship Service

Your turn.

Thank you all for pulling my hair out.

as we think about, The Life of Christ be coming through a significant passage this morning. As we just read from John chapter 10 and that Jesus calls himself. The Good Shepherd. This is one of the seven. I am statements found in scripture. He's already said, I am the door and now he says, I am the Good Shepherd. So I have to contemplate this morning. The Good Shepherd. You think about the reason why we're here today in the fact, is that the scripture tells us that there is no other name under Heaven given unto Men by which we must be saved at the name of Jesus. And so, we gather here this morning knowing that it's through Jesus, we know it by his authority and the authority that he has, given to the world is the scriptures and so therefore, we follow the scriptures and then we follow the scriptures were following the Good Shepherd. That's how the shepherd

M Ross, cheap in need of leading. And we have one great Shepherd and we have one great teacher in Jesus Christ. And we're thankful for that, that we can assemble here today to learn more about his will for us. Now, if we just think about those words, he said I am the door. You can't come to the father except by me. We already know and John 14:6. He tell us. He says that I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father, except by or through me, you can't reach God in heaven without first going through Jesus Christ. I so that means going through his teaching by what he has taught us. John 12:48, he said the word I have spoken to you. The same will judge you in the last day, will be judged how we followed Jesus by following your work. Show me hear Jesus Voice through the word of God and he's calling us every day by the word of God. And when we read the word of God, we make application in our lives, and we change our lives based upon what he has taught us. We've listened and heard His Voice through the word and we followed it and we know him. We know him because we follow him. And that's the difference that he says, in the whole manner there are, those who understand his voice. They hear his voice, but they don't follow him. But he says his true disciples are the ones that both hear his voice and follow him. And so we are the sheep that need the great Shepherd. But as we think about the context, I want us to think about what he says at the very beginning of John chapter 10, because he has everything to do with being the Good Shepherd, It's always the beginning of the chapter. He says most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the Sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way. The same is a thief and a Robert But he who enters by the door is The Shepherd of the Sheep. He saying listen, I'm not like other people. I own my sheep. And I have entered through the door because the gatekeeper has let me in. So the father has provided the Sun to the Sheep ball to save the Sheep. And there's a lot of other people who try to get in being the leader of God's Church. The wrong one. And Jesus points out. Anyone who does not enter through the door, the way I have entered in the, through the door, is a thief and a robber their false. That's always pointing out to the Jews. Really? Is you remember last week's discussion from John chapter 9, how the people were arguing about who Jesus was the part of the argument based upon where he came from and where he was born, but didn't understand all of that. I saw the arguing about who he was and what his authority was and where did he get his authority from? And so he's already talked about how he was the one to come. And now he's talking about being the shepherd. Now in ancient times Kings recalled Shepherds of the Sheep. So basically what Jesus is doing here in the face of the Pharisees is saying I am your king. I am the good King. I am the Good Shepherd. I Am The Shepherd of the sheep. God's people. And so he is laying down on the line to the Pharisees, not who he is. And so he says, there's only one Shepherd and that's the Shepherd that went through the gate. The father created for him. No, other one is no. Other one is the king. I notice that she continues. He says to him the doorkeeper opens and his sheep hear his voice and he calls his own Sheep by name and leads them out. Did you ever think about that? Our God knows you by name? He knew your name before you were even given a name. But your mama and daddy. He knew you before you were born. He knew you before. There was anything created in this world. We are talkin about the money God of creation. And I believe that he knows everything about you. He knows your heart. That's a scary thought. Imagine if you let someone into your heart, what would they see? Some things we might want to hide something. If we certainly be embarrassed about having people know, it's in my mind or in my heart but God knows it all, then you can't hide it from him. That's why the best thing that you can do is just expose yourself to God and say, here I am. I'm not lying. This is what I've done. This is who I am, but I know I need you. And I know that the sun's blood will cleanse me from all sin. That's what we need to think about. And so as Jesus continues he says he calls his own Sheep by name and leave them know and when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the Sheep. Follow him for, they know his voice, they know how do they know is Royce?

The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are like Jesus said, in John 6, and verse 63, the words that I speak to you will cause you to go from Death unto life because these are the words of Life Jesus said in John 5:24 it's true. The words we call the gospel that's comprised of words we talked a New Covenant or the New Testament. That's comprised of his words. We call it the thing. Contend earnestly for the faith. Once delivered unto all the safe contained fight, spiritually fight, not physically fight, but you stand up for Jesus. You stand up for his word, you stand up for his faith, you never compromise his word. And that's what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Those words are so very important because they are the words of life, isn't that? What Peter said? With all the disciples left Jesus because they were offended at his teaching and Jesus turned all his Apostles when they said, will you go also and Peter turned in Jesus? Where would we go? You have the words of life. He has to work Supply and he has provided them for us through the pages of scripture of which we read. And so as we consider the idea of him being a good shepherd, he saying I'm the authentic one. I am the true one. There are many fakes out there. There are many people buying to be like me, but they're not me. And so he's he's indicating his authenticity as the king, as the Messiah has the door and as the Good Shepherd. So I want to bring us to the text. So he says, therefore, I am the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, gives his life for the Sheep. I've got that in Black so remember that he gives his life for the Sheep but a hireling. He who is not the shepherd one, who does not own, the Sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and fleas, and the Wolf catches the sheet and scatters please, because he's a hireling that does not care about the sheet. I am the Good Shepherd. And I know my sheep and am known by my own as the father knows me even. So I know the father and I laid down my sheep for, for my life, for the sheets. So, we find here an intimacy, we see the intimate relationship that Jesus has with his father. and then he says, I'm sharing that intimate relationship with my cheek with you and it was me I'm so he's open up this relationship for all of us, those who are as sheep, and those that know him and those that follow him and then he says, I have a life for the Sheep a second time. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one Shepherd.

He has other sheep. Remember, he's talking to the Jews here. So the other sheep are the Gentiles, which would be the rest of the world. And he says, those are my sheep as well. If they hear my voice, if they follow my voice, they are my feet and they know my voice. But know my word is what he say. And he says them also, I must bring It's so there's one fluck. Isn't that right? There's what one church and there was, but one flock and because there is, but one flock, there's one Church, there's one body, and Jesus is the head of that body. So, we have a head and we have a body. The head is Christ. The body is his church and the two cannot be separated. Just like a husband-and-wife. When they get married, the two shall become one and let me know, then separate that Union and told essentially saying the same thing, but no one, not even Satan. Separate that you, you, you are part of Christ. You are in the body of Christ. You are part of the flock of Christ, being the one, and only great Shepherd there for my father, loves me because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. Start time. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on myself. I have power and power to take it up again. This coming and I have received from my father and solve for x in this short passage. He says, I lay down my life, and what's he doing? He's comparing with a hireling. When the workers, if you will. what is he saying, really, what are you saying is You know that when you go for a job interview, you're looking for work, and if you're looking for work, yes. What you're looking for a paycheck, right? There's no question about that. We all need money to live and to survive, but the question is, how do you work? When you collect your paycheck. Are you 12 just collect a paycheck or do you actually work for the one, who's giving you the paycheck? A lot of people live like that they don't care about the business that they're in. They don't care about the company's success. They don't care about all that. All they care about is every Friday or every other Friday when they get their paycheck. That's all that matters. The rest of the time they're on the internet.

But be that, as it may, we still have Bible passages that talk about. You know, if you're going to do something, do it mightily as to the Lord. So, whatever you give your hand to whatever, you give your part, to give it to the Lord. You're working for God, not the man. You're working for God, how you work also, expresses Who You Are. The other thing to think about is, did you get that job yourself? Or did God? Through his mercy, and through his grace, and his kindness, and his love, give you a good gift indeed. He did. And so, we're working for God. I think about the money that we learn. But that's why you burn it, you work for it, but where does it come from? Ultimately The father whose money is it. Anyway, the father's it's his. And so when we give at the collection on every first day of the week, whose money are we giving Is Ross going to be good, stewards, good, stewards of everything, good stewards of our relationships with one another good stored with our time and be good stewards with the money that he has given us. And so, don't you think that, if you're going to give back his money, that you're going to give more of his money? And not lessen, its money. That's the idea of giving God desires that you make money, but he also desires that. How did that money? You put aside money for him. And what does that mean? It means the church And I don't mean just the building, but the work that goes on here. The people that we support internationally. All the things that we we use here for Bible classes. And for studies, all those things cost money, even just sitting in this Auditorium, we have air condition and we have lightning, and we have PowerPoint, all of that takes money. That was true. Then although they didn't have PowerPoint, it still took money to keep the upkeep on the buildings. Right. You can't just let it run down there supposed to be good stewards of everything that we have. So, being a good Steward, means you need to use money in to take care of the things that God has given you. But be careful how you spend that money because you're still a good Steward of God. So four times, he says, I'm going to lay down my life because other people will not those people just show up for a paycheck. And, you know, that's so true. You know, when you think about when you were a kid and you were had a game and and your friend came over and they treated that game like it was Yours. And they broke it or they watch pieces on the game, you would be frustrated, you would be mad. and then if you went over to his house her and then you started playing their game that you would treat their game with a lot of disrespect, it's the same way people treat cars, if it's your car,

Looking in the mirror. Make sure everything's right, you did, make sure your your blinker is on. Make sure you're giving the signal, but your offense in someone else's car. You're like like Richard Petty, you're at you're all over the place, I just gave away my age. Name a person out. There was a car racer. I don't know, then think of yourself as at But that's the way people are people showing up to get a rental car, right? They get the rental car. What do they do? I'll put insurance on that. I'll take out insurance on it because I'm going to run this thing into the ground and that's what people do. Right? If it's not your property, you're not going to treat it properly. But if it's yours, you have a higher standard now, right? So it's like these people out here on Highway. Everyday I see cars going by and ask are going to buy gets what's coming out of the car trash cups. Burger. King bags. Cups of all kinds close. Please throw it out but you don't see them thrown around in your own house. That they have a different standard. So it is here with this hireling. A hireling. No U-Haul property and you rent. You rent property to others whether it be a home or trailer or whatever, you know, for a fact this is this was a factual. that about 80% of all, renters, destroy property in some way or fashion, whether it be unintentionally or intentionally, But the money that has to be put back in to the people who have just rented. You have to put in a lot more money back in just to clean it. And I do not even talk about repairs. So that's the way people are in. Jesus is pointing this out, that's human nature. And he says, if you're a hireling you act like a higher with. Now he's being, he's making a general statement. We know that there are people who are hirelings and yet they put a good day's work in. All right. He's not talking about those people seeking human nature. Why's this is the way people are and if you're up you're not going to die for the Sheep. You're going to run away when danger comes and your life is on the line. Well, my job is not worth dying for. When Jesus comes around, he says, but that's my job. I am. Good shepherd. I will and have dumped lay down my life. For my sheep. You can count on him. You can't count on the hiring. and so, every think about that, you think about why he's laying down his life And there it is wolves. Wolves. They come in different styles and different sizes. The Wolves. None the less we need to beware of those wolves werewolves. Beware of those wolves. And so, what wolves are we really pointing at Send the wolf of sin. And that comes from the source, the greatest wolf of all time. The one who can parade himself around like an angel of life.

And like a wolf. He's also calling in line. Any Peter tells us that he walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Well, that's what a wolf does to what he's booked for looking after his prey. Look at those teeth.

I don't like wolves. I don't like things that bite me. And all of us don't like sin but sin can bite and dust by. It bites us all the time. And so as we think about the idea of this wolf be called sin,

John at the very beginning of his book of John chapter one says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and he's pointing to the Good Shepherd. He's pointing to Jesus. He's pointing to the door. He's the entrance way into heaven, the entrance way into God. That's what he say. If you want salvation, we can't we go right back to John 14:6. I am see what. You can't get to heaven through Confucius, you can't get to heaven through Buddha. You can't get to heaven through any other person but Jesus Christ. And you can't get through Heaven other than through Jesus's word and there's a lot of people out there who have a different word. What the hell is a Bible? But then they have something else. they have a Bible and they have different teaching, Taylor Swift and I said well you need to hold to the Bible but you also need to hold to this and neither hold of this It's not exactly what the Jews were doing. At the time of Jesus. They had God's word, but then you needed this tradition, and then you needed this tradition. And then they elevated these tradition higher than God's word. Antonio predictions became the Commandments of God, which they weren't. And so we need to follow Jesus because he is the way the truth.

All his words are truth. And then why? The last? Because the words that are true give life. And that's from the truth. And so Jesus is all of that that he saying. That's you need to come through me. You need to come through my gospel. You need to come through my church, which I died for right acts 20:28. He purchased the church.

Let's just say he purchased the world with his own blood. He says, he purchased the church with his own blood. Where do you need to be to be safe in the church? Because once baptized we're into his body, the church were baptized into Christ and if you're baptized into Christ, you're automatically baptized into his church, his body. That's where salvation is salvation is in Christ, 2nd, Timothy 2:10, but also the Spades are in the church there for salvation being in Christ, is also in the church because he purchased the church with his own blood, that's something. God so loved the world he gave his sign for all those who potentially potentially will be part of his church, he got from everybody but not everybody is going to be in the world but not all the way his church. Not the Church of Doug. Are the church in Bangor for the Church of that guy, or that lady. Or that person was this tradition in that tradition. But his church, the church Yuri about the pages of your new testament. That's the church. And when you read about the Church of the New Testament, what you're saying is that's the church. I'm following. And if I'm following that church on the pages on the scripture, yes, to, I'm following Jesus.

Because he's the Good Shepherd, any leads the church, he leads the church by and through his word. And so the Bible tells us Concerning these wolves. The Bible says all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the lord has laid on him. The iniquity, the iniquity of us all, that's it. He was oppressed. And he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb. So he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment. He was taken away and ask for his generation, who consider that he was cut off out of the land of the living stricken for the transgression of my people and they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death. Although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth yet. It was the will of the Lord to bruise him. Where do we get that language from? Genesis chapter 3 red vs. Team. He show bruise your heel, but you shall Crush bruise his head. That's the idea. And so he says he has put him to grief when he makes himself an offering for sin. Now, I want to Point out something that sometimes the scripture says he became sin for us, the Bible is not saying that Jesus became sin as a weekly. He took out all our sins and therefore he became the most terrible sinner that ever lived. I heard that talk on television. You go to your local religious station and you'll find a lot of people saying that. That's not, that's not what the Bible is saying. It's simply a way of saying that he became a sin offering for an offering for sin, didn't become sin, and then become the most vile person that ever lived, Remember he was a lamb unspotted. Without spot that is, he had no sin. You can't give him send a telepath and say he's a sitter because he wouldn't be the Lamb of God, but he is going to bring $0.04. So I was just another way of saying, but I prefer said he shall see his offspring. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper. In his hand. He shall see the fruit of of the travail of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge shall the righteous one. My servant make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with a strong because he poured out his soul, his soul to death. And was numbered with the transgressors yeti, bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors hundred years. Before all of that happened, Isaiah prophesied. Isaiah chapter 53.

He covered everything that took place at Golgotha. Everything that took place at Cal everything at your place on the cross is covered in that prophecy, isn't that amazing? 800 years and Isaiah got it, right. Well God got it right through Isaiah. and so, God, develop a plan, the plan involves the man, Jesus Christ. He would become a man. That is God became a man and he would work for three years, preparing the world for what would come at the end is death. And we came here today, that's what exactly what we remembered. But then we also remember the fact that he's coming again. The Good Shepherd is coming again to take his sheep home. He was leading us till today, through his word. Also, to preaching and teaching, right?

He says that the Jews thought the preaching was foolishness and was unwise to the Gentiles he says, but for all of us who are being saved, it is the power of God in Salvation. Yeah, God demanded that we preach preach from his word, the truth about things concerning our lives. And so it is that we have today, that Jesus came and he said I'm going to put myself between the wolf. And my sheep. He stands between Satan and you right now.

He stands there.

How do they make you feel? That motivate you. Or does it repel you? Motivate you to come to church. Or does it repel you? The kind of, well, I don't know. Doesn't cause any difference in your life. Let me tell you something. Indifference is a sin. Write, you go to the Book of Revelation chapter 3. The Bible tells us Jesus is talking and he says, he does. I wish you were hot. And I wish you were cold but you are neither hot and night are called but you are lukewarm. Then different in the middle. And then he says because you're lukewarm what I will vomit you out of my mouth. Either on fire for God or you're not there's no in-between, there's no gray area either all in for Jesus. Are you not? It's so awesome to cross, doesn't the Good. Shepherd, doesn't the one who promised to lay down his life for you just had not to tell you and motivate you to be the best person that you can be for Jesus to give back to him. What he's so freely gave to you, to me. It puts things in perspective, it gives us that motivation. It's okay if you don't want to love me so much and he's done that all for me.

And all we ask is that I follow in. Hear his voice.

If you're subject to the imitation of Christ this morning and you want to have that relationship with a Good Shepherd. Jesus says, he that believes and is baptized shall be saved what a wonderful promise of a very simple act, as an Act of Faith. Perhaps you've done that already but you haven't been following. You heard the voice, but you haven't been following, And Jesus says, get back on the path of righteousness and all you need to do is repent if you want to do that by faith this morning, when you come as Together, We Stand and sing.