SPEAKER_01: As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the what?
SPEAKER_01: Notice the difference between his sheep, he owns them, and the goats.
SPEAKER_01: Now, would you agree with this?
SPEAKER_01: Everybody on the earth is either a sheep or a goat.
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, sir, that's a terrible thing to say.
SPEAKER_01: According to the Bible, everybody on the earth is either a sheep or a goat, yes or no?
SPEAKER_01: Yes or no?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 33, and he shall set the sheep, his sheep, on the on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
SPEAKER_01: Then shall the king say unto them on his what?
SPEAKER_01: Right hand, come ye blessed of my father.
SPEAKER_01: So let me ask you a question as you look at verse 33 and 34.
SPEAKER_01: Which get to go in with the shepherd?
SPEAKER_01: The sheep.
SPEAKER_01: The sheep get to go in the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
SPEAKER_01: The idea is the sheep get to go into eternal life with the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Look at John chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a sheep this morning, you ought to say, uh-uh, amen, amen, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Look at John chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: And watch this carefully, those of you already know, but some may not understand.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't know if I'm a sheep or a goat.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's easy to determine.
SPEAKER_01: Look at John chapter 10, or know if you would, verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: Then said Jesus unto them, Again, Verily, verily I say unto you, I am the what?
SPEAKER_01: The door of the sheep.
SPEAKER_01: All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
SPEAKER_01: I am the door.
SPEAKER_01: By me.
SPEAKER_01: Look what he says, by me.
SPEAKER_01: If any man enter in, he shall be what?
SPEAKER_01: Saved.
SPEAKER_01: And shall go in and out and find pasture.
SPEAKER_01: So would you agree, according to the Bible, the only way to come to be a sheep is to go through the door, which is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I am the way, the truth, the life.
SPEAKER_01: And the idea is there's no other way to become a sheep other than receiving Jesus Christ as Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Then we're saved and we become a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: We transition from becoming a goat, acting like a goat, to becoming a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Look if you would at verse 1 of chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: Verily, verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the what?
SPEAKER_01: Now let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_01: And this is this shouldn't be confusing.
SPEAKER_01: Who is the door?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So he says, He that entereth not through the door.
SPEAKER_01: Now wait a minute, what do you say?
SPEAKER_01: Some people try to get in the sheepfold, but they don't want to go through the door, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: They got want to go through their own way.
SPEAKER_01: He said, He that entereth not by the door in the sheepfold, but do what?
SPEAKER_01: Climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber.
SPEAKER_01: Um I grew up in uh in Medford, Oregon, just before I went to college.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the uh the the relatives I was living with, we had sheep.
SPEAKER_01: And out in the pasture we had what was called a little sheepfold.
SPEAKER_01: And all it was was a little corral out there that it sometimes we wouldn't drive them all the way into the barn at night.
SPEAKER_01: We'd leave them out in the little corral because that's where they were grazing, and it was called a sheep food.
SPEAKER_01: It was a protectionary place.
SPEAKER_01: In England they built them out of rocks.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, in North Africa, they build them out of bramble.
SPEAKER_01: And what the purpose of the sheepfold is, is to protect the sheep at night from predators.
SPEAKER_01: Now, let me tell you something I know about sheep.
SPEAKER_01: They don't climb very well.
SPEAKER_01: So, if in the morning I'd come to open the sheepfold gate and looked in there, and I saw something in there that didn't look like a sheep, I knew that that predator came in some other way.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: The idea is there's only one way to get in to be a true sheep, even if somebody says, Well, listen, I'm amongst the sheep, that doesn't make us a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh people can try to climb in all they want.
SPEAKER_01: Good works, and in uh intellectual pursuit, uh their own uh uh penance or whatever it is, but the idea is the only way to become a true sheep is to come through the door through humility, receive Christ as Savior, then you enter through the door and you're in the sheepfold.
SPEAKER_01: If someone gets in there some other way, the shepherd knows whose sheep are his.
SPEAKER_01: So if you would go with me just a little bit farther.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
SPEAKER_01: To him the porter openeth, and the sheep do what?
SPEAKER_01: Say it, hear his voice.
SPEAKER_01: And he calleth his, would you underline the next little word?
SPEAKER_01: Own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
SPEAKER_01: And when he put forth his, underline the next little word, what is it?
SPEAKER_01: Own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
SPEAKER_01: And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, please look what it says there.
SPEAKER_01: The shepherd knows his own sheep.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, he knows them very well because they're marked, and he knows his own sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, would you look at verse 14?
SPEAKER_01: I am the what?
SPEAKER_01: The good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: And know, what's the next little word?
SPEAKER_01: My sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, if you're a sheep, isn't it nice to be owned?
SPEAKER_01: Now, somebody says, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: You mean in order to be a good sheep, you have to be owned by the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: And those of us who are sheep, you say, man, I don't want to be owned by anybody.
SPEAKER_01: You don't know the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: He's a good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Uh notice, notice what he says about the good shepherd in verse number 11.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 11, look at it.
SPEAKER_01: I am the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: What makes him good?
SPEAKER_01: A lot of things, but the good shepherd giveth his what?
SPEAKER_01: His life for the sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't you like to be owned by someone who'll give his life for you?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, look at here.
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, not only he does look what he says, uh verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: As the father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.
SPEAKER_01: So to be owned by the good shepherd is the greatest thing that could ever happen.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, Ruth Swim passed on yesterday, and she's now with the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Because he laid down his life that she could have life again.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: One of these things about being a sheep is when our life here is over, we go to be with the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: You say, What if I'm a goat?
SPEAKER_01: You get cast away from the good shepherd forever because he doesn't want goats.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't think that's a loving God.
SPEAKER_01: He gives everybody the opportunity to become a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: We have a willful choice.
SPEAKER_01: So he says this.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here we go, Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Watch this, verse 14.
SPEAKER_01: I am the good shepherd and know my sheep.
SPEAKER_01: And watch this, and what?
SPEAKER_01: I am known of mine.
SPEAKER_01: What that's saying there, brethren, is that the sheep is supposed to know the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: How can we know the shepherd?
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: To him the porter opeth, and the sheep do what?
SPEAKER_01: Hear his voice.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: And when he put us in his, uh when he put us forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: For they do what?
SPEAKER_01: Know his voice.
SPEAKER_01: Now, brethren, he says, I know my sheep and am known of mine.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because they hear my voice and they know my voice.
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you a question.
SPEAKER_01: Would you agree that there are some sheep who are probably saved that really don't know the voice of the shepherd?
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you a question, sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever struggled to hear the voice of the shepherd?
SPEAKER_01: Somebody in here, you're a sheep, but you don't yet know the voice of your good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: You haven't grown enough to hear it.
SPEAKER_01: You haven't been persistent enough to learn it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not putting you down.
SPEAKER_01: There's somebody in here that used to hear the voice of the shepherd constantly, but you've been following strangers.
SPEAKER_01: And say, come on, don't be so point blank.
SPEAKER_01: It could happen to any sheep.
SPEAKER_01: It could happen to this sheep.
SPEAKER_01: You say, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you the under-shepherd?
SPEAKER_01: I'm a sheep first.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I have all the characteristics of a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: I need to be led.
SPEAKER_01: I need to learn to follow.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: I need to follow the right voice.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, I need to know the right voice.
SPEAKER_01: But would you agree with this?
SPEAKER_01: There's many voices in the world, and none of them without significance.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Corinthians 14.
unknown: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: What voices are out there?
SPEAKER_01: There's the voice on the radio.
unknown: Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_01: And may I agree?
SPEAKER_01: Would you agree with this?
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't always agree with the voice of the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: There's the voice of the TV.
SPEAKER_01: There's the voice of newspaper and magazines.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I've read magazines before that do not agree with the voice of the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Do they influence us?
unknown: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: There's the voice of humanism.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of strange voices out there.
SPEAKER_01: Would you agree with this?
SPEAKER_01: Please look up here.
SPEAKER_01: There's the voice of false religion.
SPEAKER_01: And it can be a stranger led away.
SPEAKER_01: You in John chapter 10, look at a verse.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: This spirit parable, verse 6, spake Jesus unto who?
SPEAKER_01: You know who the them is?
SPEAKER_01: You know who's included in the them?
SPEAKER_01: Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: Now hold your place right there.
SPEAKER_01: And let's see what Jesus said about Pharisees real quick.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Matthew chapter 22.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 22.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Jesus is not holding back anything here.
SPEAKER_01: He's not worrying about who's listening to him in the crowd.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Matthew chapter 22.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a little chilly here this morning, we never know what the weather's going to be like and how to do it.
SPEAKER_01: So just pull your wool over you a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Matthew chapter 22.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 22.
SPEAKER_01: Now watch what Jesus says about these thieves.
SPEAKER_01: I say, wait a minute, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: I thought we were talking about Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: Thieves.
SPEAKER_01: He said, My house shall be a house of prayer and not a den of what?
SPEAKER_01: Who is he referring to?
SPEAKER_01: Well it was the Pharisees letting that go on in the house of God was thievery.
SPEAKER_01: So he's he's speaking in John chapter 10, and you know who's out there listening?
SPEAKER_01: The thieves and the robbers.
SPEAKER_01: The Pharisees, the false religion.
SPEAKER_01: Look what he says about it in Matthew 22.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 23.
SPEAKER_01: Did I tell you 22?
SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 23, look at verse 13.
SPEAKER_01: Woe unto you, scribes and who?
SPEAKER_01: Pharisees, hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: For ye do what?
SPEAKER_01: Shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.
SPEAKER_01: For ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
SPEAKER_01: Now, please look up here just for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, I am the door.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody that's ever came before me is a thief and a robber, and they won't let you go in.
SPEAKER_01: The idea is this, brethren, false religion doesn't let anybody get into the sheepfold.
SPEAKER_01: It's through Jesus Christ and him and him alone.
SPEAKER_01: Don't get offended.
SPEAKER_01: Not everybody out there that names the name of Christ is a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: There are some wolves in sheep's clothing out there.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, amen.
SPEAKER_01: False teachers.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, if someone denies that Jesus is in fact God, they are not part of the fold.
unknown: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: You say, well, who would do that?
SPEAKER_01: Mormon theology does.
SPEAKER_01: You say, wait a minute now, don't say that.
SPEAKER_01: I know a good Mormon.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I know a lot of good Mormons.
SPEAKER_01: But the theology is what I'm talking about.
unknown: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: You say, well, how do you know?
SPEAKER_01: Study it.
SPEAKER_01: Find out.
SPEAKER_01: They're trying to work their way there.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: They're trying to climb up over.
unknown: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, I can't believe that.
SPEAKER_01: That offends me so much.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not talking about, I'm talking about doctrinal.
SPEAKER_01: Let me try one more.
SPEAKER_01: How about Jehovah's Witnesses?
SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
SPEAKER_01: Are you guys just you just are haters of everybody that doesn't believe?
SPEAKER_01: No, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Hold it.
SPEAKER_01: Stop for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Stop.
SPEAKER_01: Study their doctrine, sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Find out how they're trying to get in.
unknown: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: They're trying to climb up over the sheepfold.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, anytime you say something about Mormons or Jehovah's Witness or anybody else that's tried it, someone gets offended.
SPEAKER_01: It's because they're ignorant.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: True, it's true.
SPEAKER_01: Because we haven't been listening to the voice of the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: If we listen to the voice of the shepherd, the voice of the shepherd inside will say, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, is it true or not?
SPEAKER_01: Why would you do that in church?
SPEAKER_01: Because we don't want any wolves getting in.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, stay with me now.
SPEAKER_01: You say, that's terrible to say.
SPEAKER_01: Look what Jesus said in verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.
SPEAKER_01: You compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more of the child of hell than yourself.
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty strong.
unknown: Yes, sir.
unknown: Hell.
SPEAKER_01: Now, somebody says, Well, you shouldn't blast Mormon theology.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't agree with this book.
SPEAKER_01: They won't use the King James Bible, they'll use the Book of Mormon.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Jehovah's Witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: You say, well, what's so bad about them?
SPEAKER_01: They seem like nice people.
SPEAKER_01: They're probably nice people.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about doctrine.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Well, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what do you know about them?
SPEAKER_01: I know that they believe that Jesus and Satan were once brothers.
SPEAKER_01: There's something wrong with that.
SPEAKER_01: How do you know?
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever seen them?
SPEAKER_01: No, but I've read Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Nowhere in this Bible will you see that Jesus and Satan were once brothers.
SPEAKER_01: You won't find it in there.
SPEAKER_01: It's false doctrine.
SPEAKER_01: Are we still okay?
SPEAKER_01: Now listen, somebody here is going, I don't want to hear this, I don't want to hear this.
SPEAKER_01: If you hear the voice of the shepherd, the voice of the shepherd will say, Amen, it's true.
SPEAKER_01: It's good that you're hearing this because you're about ready to follow a stranger.
SPEAKER_01: And that stranger is about ready to lead you away from the shepherd's voice.
unknown: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to find anybody who's hiding right now.
SPEAKER_01: Come on now.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen, I'm not trying to put anybody down.
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
SPEAKER_01: Some sheep get saved.
SPEAKER_01: And they just never follow the voice to where they get to know it, to where they study enough to know what's right and wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it wasn't available.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody wanted to teach them.
SPEAKER_01: You know what our church we want to do?
SPEAKER_01: We want to teach you.
SPEAKER_01: You make your own decisions, but make it out of this book.
SPEAKER_01: Hear the voice of the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: And then follow the voice of the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus was doing this.
SPEAKER_01: He was saying, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: Think of this.
SPEAKER_01: All you are out here, and there's the Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: Roy, you be a Pharisee for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Come here quickly.
SPEAKER_01: Now he's standing right here next to me, and I'm telling you, listen, all the who's have ever come before me, they're thieves and robbers.
SPEAKER_01: This one has a theology that makes you two, four more the child of hell than yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, look up here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm the door, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Jesus was saying.
SPEAKER_01: They're trying to call up another way, get in on their own works, and that's not the way.
SPEAKER_01: You have to come through the door.
SPEAKER_01: Don't you think they knew what he was saying?
SPEAKER_01: Come on, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Look at John chapter 10 again.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Jesus is just point blank on this thing.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not trying to hurt anybody.
SPEAKER_01: I hope nobody gets hurt.
SPEAKER_01: That's not the point.
SPEAKER_01: Trying to help.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: The thief cometh not, but for to do what?
SPEAKER_01: Steal and to kill and to destroy.
SPEAKER_01: I am come that you might have what?
SPEAKER_01: Say it.
SPEAKER_01: Life, and that you have it more abundantly.
SPEAKER_01: He said, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: If you become a sheep, I'm going to lead you out, lead you into good pasture.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to grow.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be happy.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be contented.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be safe.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be secure.
SPEAKER_01: My thought as a shepherd is on you as sheep.
SPEAKER_01: That wasn't the Pharisee's mindset.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: So, if you would, he was point blank and saying, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: Don't follow them.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to get to know Jesus, his voice.
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
SPEAKER_01: Now.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Pharisee.
SPEAKER_01: Brother Roy.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody says, alright, alright, alright.
SPEAKER_01: I see what you're trying to say.
SPEAKER_01: He trying to say it.
SPEAKER_01: It's me trying to understand it.
SPEAKER_01: Because as you look at this thing, the question then is this all right?
SPEAKER_01: I'm supposed to follow him.
SPEAKER_01: How am I supposed to hear his voice?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, is it audible?
SPEAKER_01: I know this.
SPEAKER_01: The voice of God shows up in Genesis chapter 1, walking in the cool of the garden.
SPEAKER_01: The voice of God shows up in the burning bush talking to Moses.
SPEAKER_01: The voice of God shows up on the mount as it's burning.
SPEAKER_01: The voice of God, if you study it out, it shows up.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, how about on the road to Damascus?
SPEAKER_01: Wait a minute, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: That was the Lord Jesus Christ's voice.
SPEAKER_01: I know God's voice.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit says, separate me, Paul and Barnabas.
SPEAKER_01: That's God's voice.
unknown: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: Brethren, the voice of God is on this earth.
SPEAKER_01: It's here.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not hidden.
SPEAKER_01: You know what the problem is?
SPEAKER_01: All those other voices, if we're not careful, can overshadow the voice of God in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: We can spend more time listening to other voices than we do the voice of God.
SPEAKER_01: Now somebody says, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright.
SPEAKER_01: Show me where the voice of God is.
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
SPEAKER_01: Look at John 18.
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: John 18.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 18.
SPEAKER_01: Look what he says when he's speaking to a high government official.
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 18, verse 37.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for turning there.
SPEAKER_01: Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king.
SPEAKER_01: To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world.
SPEAKER_01: Watch it.
SPEAKER_01: That I sure should bear witness unto the what?
unknown: Truth.
SPEAKER_01: Now wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Where's truth?
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, Thy word is what?
SPEAKER_01: So what he's bearing witness to is his own word.
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
SPEAKER_01: Yes or no?
unknown: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, let me just stop here a minute.
SPEAKER_01: I'm for you now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not against you.
SPEAKER_01: Everything in here is truth.
SPEAKER_01: Either we accept that or not.
SPEAKER_01: Everything in here is truth.
SPEAKER_01: Thy word is what?
SPEAKER_01: Purified seven times.
SPEAKER_01: It's truth.
SPEAKER_01: Now watch what he says.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone that is of the truth, do what?
SPEAKER_01: Heareth my voice.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, alright, alright, alright.
SPEAKER_01: If you're of the truth, you hear the voice.
SPEAKER_01: How in the world do I hear the voice of God?
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to give you one simple way that every day we as sheep can hear the voice of God.
SPEAKER_01: And it's so simple, and you already know what it is, don't you?
SPEAKER_01: Every day we should open what?
SPEAKER_01: Truth.
SPEAKER_01: And every day that we open truth and we read truth, if we'll be focused on the truth, we'll hear his voice.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, I'm looking now because some of you are going, hmm.
SPEAKER_01: You know why?
SPEAKER_01: Here's the problem.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us didn't hear his voice much last week.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, you know what some of us did?
SPEAKER_01: I'm what telling us.
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what we did.
SPEAKER_01: We did open truth.
SPEAKER_01: We were ready to hear his voice.
SPEAKER_01: But when we started reading, there were other voices that came up.
SPEAKER_01: And we started looking at the words and we stared at them.
SPEAKER_01: And while we were staring at the words, there was another conversation going on in our head.
SPEAKER_01: How many know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Oh no, now stop, now stop.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all, let's admit it now.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you ever sit down and you say, Alright, God, I need to hear something from you today?
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to read your word.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's, I know it's sent down from heaven.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's purified.
SPEAKER_01: I know holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's authored by you, and I'm ready to hear your truth.
SPEAKER_01: And we get through about four scriptures, and all of a sudden we start staring.
SPEAKER_01: And we start carrying on a conversation with ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I gotta get into this this morning.
SPEAKER_01: I've got to hear God's voice.
SPEAKER_01: I say.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, boy, I gotta do that today, and I gotta do that, and then I better do that.
SPEAKER_01: Man, what did that person say to me yesterday and why'd they say that?
SPEAKER_01: And uh man, I'll tell you what.
SPEAKER_01: Uh oh, I've got to get back to this thing.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, all right, all right.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, that was a good TV show on last night.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder what happened at the end.
SPEAKER_01: I fell asleep.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, do you know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the voice that we have to fight the most is what's going on up here.
SPEAKER_01: Our mind, it's like, Lord, it's almost like, Lord, would you help me to die to myself and die to my own opinion so I can hear your voice this morning through thy word?
SPEAKER_01: Now you say audibly, perceptually.
SPEAKER_01: He's still speaking through his words.
SPEAKER_01: And a good sheep that wants to know who the shepherd is and wants to know his voice and hear his voice, please look up here, must learn to listen.
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, I came to church, and the only thing I heard was, I gotta learn to listen.
SPEAKER_01: Sheep don't listen very good.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've looked at a sheep before on that ranch and talked to that sheep, and before long that sheep was looking all over the place.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we don't listen.
SPEAKER_01: We're looking, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you a look at it.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you, I'll just use husband and wife, you've ever been in a car before and the radio's been on, and she's talking to you, and ma'am, you know he's not.
SPEAKER_01: Listen to you.
SPEAKER_01: He's listening to that women wants to move something.
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, do you know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01: Because it's hard for us to focus on two things at once.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if somebody says, no, I can do three things at once, I can I can watch TV and I can listen to something and talk to my wife at the same time, ask your wife.
SPEAKER_01: The truth of the matter is, if we're really going to focus and really gonna listen and really gonna hear, we need to push everything out and focus and really listen.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, yes or no?
SPEAKER_01: That's why that quiet time in the morning or of a night, when there's not a lot of distractions going on in just your Bible, and hearing the voice of God, that's why it's so important.
SPEAKER_01: Every sheep can wake up and somehow, it's on tape, it's it's it's in the book.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's so many, it's in Braille.
SPEAKER_01: There's so many ways to hear the voice of God by reading his word.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes, would you agree with this?
SPEAKER_01: We don't listen.
SPEAKER_01: There's distractions.
SPEAKER_01: And what we have to do is say, Lord, take away the distractions.
SPEAKER_01: I want to hear your voice.
SPEAKER_01: I want to be a good sheep so you lead me the right way.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm listening, so I'm a good follower.
SPEAKER_01: Now.
SPEAKER_01: I uh I want to show you something.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to really understand.
SPEAKER_01: Look at Genesis 3.
SPEAKER_01: And watch this very carefully, if you would.
SPEAKER_01: We're coming down to the end of the message.
SPEAKER_01: Genesis 3.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody told me the other day, since you've been in that wheelchair preacher, you preach less time, and I kind of like it.
SPEAKER_01: I said, don't get used to it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm coming up again out of this wheelchair one of these days.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: When I watch Genesis 3, and I hope you'll put this all together, and I'm asking the Lord to really help you to understand this just little thought.
SPEAKER_01: Watch Genesis 3.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse.
SPEAKER_01: And they heard, who's the they?
SPEAKER_01: Adam and Eve.
SPEAKER_01: And they heard the who?
SPEAKER_01: The voice of the Lord, God, walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
SPEAKER_01: Now watch the action.
SPEAKER_01: And Adam and his wife did what?
SPEAKER_01: What'd they hide themselves from?
SPEAKER_01: That voice, the presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you, why did they hide themselves?
SPEAKER_01: Because they were guilty.
SPEAKER_01: Because they had disobeyed God.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 9, watch it.
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?
SPEAKER_01: Now God knew where he was at.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, at least he was honest.
SPEAKER_01: Up to this point in time.
SPEAKER_01: I heard thy voice in the garden.
SPEAKER_01: I was what?
SPEAKER_01: Afraid.
SPEAKER_01: Because I was what?
SPEAKER_01: Naked.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if he was really afraid or he's guilty.
SPEAKER_01: He just didn't know what to say.
SPEAKER_01: And I hid myself.
SPEAKER_01: Well, God retorts back and says, Hey, Adam, let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_01: Who told you you were naked?
SPEAKER_01: You didn't even know you were naked before.
SPEAKER_01: I never put it in you when we made you to show you from the start that you were naked.
SPEAKER_01: It was innocence that I made you.
SPEAKER_01: I made you sinless.
SPEAKER_01: Who told you you were naked?
SPEAKER_01: Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
SPEAKER_01: And typical man.
SPEAKER_01: She did it, is right.
SPEAKER_01: The woman.
SPEAKER_01: So he blames it on the woman whom thou gavest to be with me.
SPEAKER_01: Who's he blaming it on?
SPEAKER_01: He's blaming it on the woman and not on God.
SPEAKER_01: She gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
SPEAKER_01: Now, isn't that typical us?
SPEAKER_01: It's not my fault.
SPEAKER_01: You know what was interesting?
SPEAKER_01: They hid themselves from the voice of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I want to show you an illustration.
SPEAKER_01: Bill, you come up here quickly.
SPEAKER_01: Bill, I want you to stand over there and you're going to be the Lord Jesus Christ for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: You don't mind a little illustration, do you?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: Something that you can remember.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Brother Marcelo, come up here, real quick.
SPEAKER_01: Marcelo is going to be a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: He came through the door of who?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Only way you can come through the door, or only way to be a sheep is to come through the door, which is Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
SPEAKER_01: Alright, so Marcelo just got saved, and he's going to follow who?
SPEAKER_01: The good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
SPEAKER_01: So he's going to turn and get ready to follow the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Shepherd's going to lead.
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
SPEAKER_01: Now, stop.
SPEAKER_01: Somewhere along the line, Marcelo hears a strange voice.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, Marcelo.
SPEAKER_01: Marcelo.
SPEAKER_01: You know, people think you're a fool.
SPEAKER_01: You're getting too committed.
SPEAKER_01: You're getting to be a fanatic.
SPEAKER_01: You're down there saying amen.
SPEAKER_01: You know, you just listen, you're just ruining your life.
SPEAKER_01: You're ruining your testimony at work.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, as a as a manager, it just you need to stop.
SPEAKER_01: Go on, lead.
SPEAKER_01: Now, somewhere along the line, look up here.
SPEAKER_01: Marcelo starts getting a little more distance from the Lord's leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Please look up here, because he's listening to some other voices.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: We would call this backsliding.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, yes or no?
SPEAKER_01: And he gets to the place where he's not hearing that voice much anymore.
SPEAKER_01: And it can happen, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Lay out of church, get away from the Bible, get away from Christians.
SPEAKER_01: Yes or no?
SPEAKER_01: And all those voices out there start pulling us away.
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
SPEAKER_01: We even get Marcello to the place where he gets turned.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes the other way.
SPEAKER_01: Now he's pulling me along, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, Pastor.
SPEAKER_01: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_01: Now watch, watch.
SPEAKER_01: No, stay with me.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the shepherd, the good shepherd just doesn't forget about him.
unknown: Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_01: He might get caught in the thicket, but the good shepherd, look up here, is going to come for him.
SPEAKER_01: Is that right?
SPEAKER_01: Come about right there.
SPEAKER_01: Now, please look up here.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the problem.
SPEAKER_01: Once a sheep kind of gets away and has been astray and gets caught, not all sheep want to hear the voice of the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Because they're a little guilty.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: When the shepherd calls, and by the way, he knows his voice.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here today and you're just off track from fellowship with the Lord just a little bit, you know as I'm preaching, the Holy Spirit's saying inside, He's calling you.
SPEAKER_01: He's calling you back.
SPEAKER_01: You know what you feel like doing right now?
SPEAKER_01: Hiding.
SPEAKER_01: Don't we, when somebody gets up and starts preaching and they name our sin, don't we feel like hiding?
SPEAKER_01: Did I choose the wrong sheep?
SPEAKER_01: Don't innovate, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Sheep don't think.
SPEAKER_01: Look up here.
SPEAKER_01: The idea is, even though he comes from, he wants to hide.
SPEAKER_01: Because he's guilty.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the point.
SPEAKER_01: The shepherd will only go so far.
SPEAKER_01: He's got a free will.
SPEAKER_01: You want to keep following those strangers?
SPEAKER_01: You want to keep going off?
SPEAKER_01: They're just going to destroy and kill you.
SPEAKER_01: They don't really care for you.
SPEAKER_01: They don't want anything like I want.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to have life and life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_01: He'll come so far.
SPEAKER_01: He'll even go right and try to get him back.
SPEAKER_01: Go.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Bill.
SPEAKER_01: Now please look up here.
SPEAKER_01: But the sheep has a free will.
SPEAKER_01: Yes or no?
SPEAKER_01: He calls and finally he says, Alright, follow me.
SPEAKER_01: Stay right with there, Marcella.
SPEAKER_01: Go ahead, lead him out, Bill.
SPEAKER_01: Lead him back, leading back, leading back, leading back.
SPEAKER_01: He stays right there.
SPEAKER_01: He leads.
SPEAKER_01: He does that a number of times.
SPEAKER_01: Never follows.
SPEAKER_01: Sooner or later, that sheep starts acting like a goat.
unknown: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Starts to get the attributes of a goat.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have time to tell you what they are.
SPEAKER_01: Just think.
SPEAKER_01: Now you can't even tell him he's a sheep anymore.
SPEAKER_01: He looks like a goat, he acts like a goat, he looks like a world, he acts like the world.
SPEAKER_01: But ask him if he's a sheep, he'll say sure.
SPEAKER_01: He's just not following.
SPEAKER_01: He's not producing any wool.
SPEAKER_01: He's not lambing.
SPEAKER_01: He's not giving the shepherd pleasure.
SPEAKER_01: He keeps running off.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't want to be a part of the flock.
SPEAKER_01: Just any stranger that comes along, off he goes.
SPEAKER_01: Now, don't you understand later at the judgment seat, he's still a sheep.
SPEAKER_01: But it didn't make the shepherd happy.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Statement.
SPEAKER_01: That could happen to a young Christian, but it could happen to an older Christian too.
SPEAKER_01: Yes or no?
unknown: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: After a while, hey, you know what the shepherd does?
SPEAKER_01: He leads that sheep to good pasture.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he feeds him.
SPEAKER_01: To a sheep that follows.
SPEAKER_01: He gets fed and he wants to do something.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to be a part of the flock, and God wants to use that sheep.
SPEAKER_01: But a sheep that doesn't follow spiritually gets sickly.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Good for what?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: You'll say, well, what's the solution?
SPEAKER_01: If the shepherd's calling you today, better get back following.
SPEAKER_01: Go on.
SPEAKER_01: Shepherd, lead him out, and off we go again.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it'd be so embarrassing.
SPEAKER_01: What's embarrassing about following the voice of the shepherd?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I've already raced it.
SPEAKER_01: Stop just a minute, guys.
SPEAKER_01: What'd you waste?
SPEAKER_01: Just years that you've been away from the shepherd?
SPEAKER_01: He's not done with you yet, or you wouldn't be in church today.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, yes or no?
SPEAKER_01: He's not done with some that are outside of church.
SPEAKER_01: You know, there are some outside of church right now listening to the voice of football.
SPEAKER_01: I got nothing against football.
SPEAKER_01: But not during church time.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I may have something against football, but you understand what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01: The point of it is, I'm supposed to, as a sheep, get to know his voice.
SPEAKER_01: And listen.
SPEAKER_01: And hear.
SPEAKER_01: And understand and act.
SPEAKER_01: Follow.
SPEAKER_01: If I follow his voice and get to know his voice real well, please look up here.
SPEAKER_01: When a stranger comes along, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: You're in that Baptist church over there.
SPEAKER_01: You know they don't they don't teach right.
SPEAKER_01: But but I don't want to really talk about that, but but I want to show you some doctrinal things here.
SPEAKER_01: You know, Jesus Christ said it himself.
SPEAKER_01: He said he was not equal with the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what do you say to that?
SPEAKER_01: If he's listening to the shepherd, you know what he does from this stranger?
SPEAKER_01: He said, that's the voice of a stranger, and he follows on.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Well, somebody says, you know, I heard that one time.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ said he was not, he was uh he's not equal with the Father.
SPEAKER_01: How could that be?
SPEAKER_01: See, he's a lesser God.
SPEAKER_01: No, he was made a little lower than the angels.
SPEAKER_01: A little lower than the angels.
SPEAKER_01: Hebrews for the suffering of death.
SPEAKER_01: He was in the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: But he was God manifest in the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: He was the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
SPEAKER_01: He was, 1 John 5 7, the Father, the Holy Ghost, and the Word are one.
SPEAKER_01: The point of it is, if you know all that, you're not going to let some stranger get you and take you away from the fold.
SPEAKER_01: Preacher, you know this is basic stuff.
SPEAKER_01: You know how many Christians don't really know the voice of God?
SPEAKER_01: You know how many Christians don't spend time hearing his voice every day?
SPEAKER_01: You know how many Christians of those of us who've been saved for years, if we're not careful, we'll lay down our Bible for two and three and four days at a time and not seek his voice?
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
SPEAKER_01: Is it true or not?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: Or you know how many of us will open our Bibles and just kind of carry on a conversation with ourselves?
SPEAKER_01: I got a lot going on in my life right now.
SPEAKER_01: Man.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's getting tough.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I gotta go.
SPEAKER_01: If that goes on too long.
SPEAKER_01: Strangers are right there.
SPEAKER_01: Thieves and robbers.
SPEAKER_01: Prince of powers and powers are right there.
SPEAKER_01: Wanting to pull the sheep away from following the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because if all the sheep follow the shepherd when it's lambing time, a lot of people get saved.
SPEAKER_01: Lambing time?
SPEAKER_01: You know, like sheep, bear lambs?
SPEAKER_01: And the flock increases?
SPEAKER_01: Why would they want to do that?
SPEAKER_01: To please the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: Like big day.
SPEAKER_01: You know what a big day is for us?
SPEAKER_01: It's a lambing time.
SPEAKER_01: It's a time to please our shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: In order to do so, we're gonna have to follow his voice and not turn away from it.
SPEAKER_01: You guys can sit down.
SPEAKER_01: If you're in here this morning, and honestly, you got saved, and nobody was there to teach you, or please look up here, I'm watching the time.
SPEAKER_01: It's uh, oh, it's already one o'clock.
SPEAKER_01: Just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: If you genuinely got saved, maybe young, maybe teenager, maybe as an adult, please look up here just for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: And nobody was really there to spend time with you, that excuse only holds so long.
SPEAKER_01: We'll spend time with you.
SPEAKER_01: We'll help you to grow.
SPEAKER_01: We want you to grow.
SPEAKER_01: We want you to know the Father's voice.
SPEAKER_01: I mean the shepherd's voice.
SPEAKER_01: I mean the Holy Spirit's voice.
SPEAKER_01: I mean all of that.
SPEAKER_01: Because they're all the one.
SPEAKER_01: We want you to be part of the flock.
SPEAKER_01: In the flock, there's security, there's protection.
SPEAKER_01: We don't go hungry.
SPEAKER_01: The predators don't get in.
SPEAKER_01: And then when our turn comes like Ruth's cane, we're with the shepherd forever.
SPEAKER_01: I gotta say this not to hurt someone.
SPEAKER_01: If you've just decided not to, why do you say you?
SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about the people outside of the church.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, let's let's talk about the world or something.
SPEAKER_01: Let's let's blast the world so I can say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: If you and I decide not to follow the voice, even though we've got a Bible, even though we know how to study it, even though we have before, we're just as susceptible to strangers.
SPEAKER_01: And please look up here.
SPEAKER_01: It may not be the simple stranger, it may be one more complicated.
unknown: Yeah, come on.
SPEAKER_01: It may not be, I'm gonna be honest with you, there's no Jehovah's Witnesses gonna lead me away.
SPEAKER_01: I've studied it.
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you what, the first two years, though, I I didn't know.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I studied it out.
SPEAKER_01: How about it?
SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: But I'm I'm I'm I'm sure, I'm positive, without a shadow of doubt, that they don't have the right gospel.
SPEAKER_01: They're not gonna lead me away.
SPEAKER_01: No Mormon is gonna lead me away.
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe Joseph Smith's 3D glasses really saw what he should have seen.
SPEAKER_01: You say, don't make fun of it.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, listen, read about it.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it is it is bizarre.
SPEAKER_01: It is it is a you talk oh man.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to, I don't want to be I don't want to be unkind.
SPEAKER_01: But after you read about it, no way am I gonna follow that.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of religions I'm not gonna follow.
SPEAKER_01: But please look up here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure there's something out there that principalities and powers would have for me.
SPEAKER_01: That if I listen to the voice too much, it could lead me away from his voice.
SPEAKER_01: What's yours?
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I'd like to hide myself right now.
SPEAKER_01: Where art thou, Doug?
SPEAKER_01: Uh over here.
SPEAKER_01: Why over there?
SPEAKER_01: Why didn't you come up to me when you heard me walking by?
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, well, uh, you know, that thing you gave me, you gave it to me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it got me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Doug, didn't I tell you to leave that alone?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: So Doug, uh, whose fault is it?
SPEAKER_01: Uh I think it's my wife's.
SPEAKER_01: No, Doug.
SPEAKER_01: Doug.
SPEAKER_01: Didn't you hear me walking by?
SPEAKER_01: Yay, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Don't you normally come up to me?
SPEAKER_01: Like good sheep does when they hears the shepherd's voice?
SPEAKER_01: Yay, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now, whose fault is it, Doug?
SPEAKER_01: It's my fault, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Good.
SPEAKER_01: Now, you ready to confess it?
SPEAKER_01: Yay, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You ready to follow me again?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's go.
SPEAKER_01: I got some pasture I want to take you to.
SPEAKER_01: You think he's done with you, he's not.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't give up on his sheep.
SPEAKER_01: We give up on ourselves, but he doesn't give up on his sheep.
SPEAKER_01: You know, there's nothing like watching sheep when the fence opens and they get led into a new pastor.
SPEAKER_01: Man, they'll jump around.
SPEAKER_01: They'll get excited.
SPEAKER_01: If your Christianity has lost a little bit of its zeal, I think if we'll just get back and stop following the voice of strangers and get back following the voice of God through his words, you just might kick up your heels again and somebody says something about the Lord, and you just might say, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be too fanatical, but amen.
SPEAKER_01: That was good.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You get led into enough pasture and you're going to go, amen.
SPEAKER_01: Man, they get you in the deep clove and you'll say, Amen, let's eat.
SPEAKER_01: Start getting fat, wool, producing some lambs.
SPEAKER_01: It's good to be part of the flock.
SPEAKER_01: It's good to see a predator come along, and the sheep are just kind of all a little nervous about this thing, a little bit of stress, a little pressure, and the shepherd shows up and all of a sudden that predator runs away.
SPEAKER_01: It's good to get at the end of life and be able to know that absent from the body and present with the Lord is true.
SPEAKER_01: This morning, there may be some of us beginning to act like goats.
SPEAKER_01: And God wants us to be the sheep that he meant us to be.
SPEAKER_01: But in order to do that, we've got to know him and know his voice.
SPEAKER_01: And by knowing his voice, we won't follow the voice of strangers.
SPEAKER_01: And he'll lead us to life abundantly.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a little bit away, don't do this.
SPEAKER_01: I better hide.
SPEAKER_01: I better hide myself.
SPEAKER_01: Here he comes.
SPEAKER_01: I better hide myself.
SPEAKER_01: No, better.
SPEAKER_01: Here comes the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I better get back.
SPEAKER_01: Here he comes.
SPEAKER_01: There comes his voice.
SPEAKER_01: I see it.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Hello, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I've been a bad little sheep.
SPEAKER_01: I thought there were greener pastures elsewhere, but I know the clovers best right here.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to try to get out anymore, I hope.
SPEAKER_01: Where you lead me, that's where I want to follow.
SPEAKER_01: Let's all stand.
SPEAKER_01: Don't leave, please.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be a bad little sheep.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: If you must leave, we understand.
SPEAKER_01: Please stay just for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: With your heads bowed, your eyes closed.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if you'd say in here, you know, I've, with your heads bowed and eyes closed, I tried to come maybe through another door.
SPEAKER_01: I tried to come through another way.
SPEAKER_01: I thought you could do it by good works or being good or falling this or falling that.
SPEAKER_01: I'd really like to know more about this way into the sheepfold through the door through Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Please, before I leave, would you pray for me that I can understand that door, that one way in?
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to become a true sheep of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to be owned by Him.
SPEAKER_01: With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, let me pray for you before you leave.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not sure of your salvation, would you hold up your hand right now and say, pray for me?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01: God bless you.
SPEAKER_01: Your honesty.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: God bless you, ma'am.
SPEAKER_01: Someone else.
SPEAKER_01: You may put it down.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01: God bless your honesty.
SPEAKER_01: I'd like to be a sheep, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, honestly, now before we pray, with your heads bowed and eyes closed, and you don't have to lift your hands.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a sheep that's a little astray.
SPEAKER_01: I haven't been listening like I should to the voice of the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: I haven't been seeking it out.
SPEAKER_01: Don't raise your hand.
SPEAKER_01: Seems like everything's fine, but you know what?
SPEAKER_01: I understand what you're saying.
SPEAKER_01: I need to be careful.
SPEAKER_01: I need to get back to hearing his voice through his word and following his leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Or I know someone, boy, I've been praying for them, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, an aunt or uncle, a business associate, and I wish they'd get back in.
SPEAKER_01: I know they're saved, but I just wish they would get back to following the shepherd.
SPEAKER_01: They're about ready to ruin their life or hurt themselves or hurt their children in some way.
SPEAKER_01: Then it wouldn't hurt not just to pray for ourselves, but to pray for them.
SPEAKER_01: Father, with all my understanding, I asked you, if those who raised their hands are unsure yet of their salvation, God, I'd ask you to draw them to yourselves only in a way you can.
SPEAKER_01: And maybe today they could cease to be goats and become sheep through entering through that blood that was shed for them.
SPEAKER_01: And God, for those of us who are already Christians, Lord, some of us get aside and get away sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: Would you help us not to hide ourselves from your voice?
SPEAKER_01: God, help us to be willing to let you own us.
SPEAKER_01: Help us to let you willing to be truly not just a good shepherd, but our master and our Lord and our owners.
SPEAKER_01: And God, we know every day you want us to listen to our owners.
SPEAKER_01: To get direction for what you would have us to do with our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Help us not to hide ourselves, Lord, from that voice that's walking by right now.
SPEAKER_01: And for those who aren't here that we know, help us to at least take some time and pray for them.