WEBVTT 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:27.839 Well, amen, church. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:28.800 Good morning. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:30.719 Good morning. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:33.439 Happy Sunday. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:35.600 I hope that your week has been good. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:40.399 This week started off very uh quick and busy for us. 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:50.239 And I know that's how summer is, but um, I want to say a word of thanks for any parent who allowed their children to come to kids' camp this week. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:01:04.879 It started off last Sunday, and Anna and Trey and a team of leaders, as well as our worship team, uh, my wife and daughter did some cooking, a lot went on, but um it was a great kids' camp. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:06.319 So I want to say a word of praise. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:11.439 If you see Anna and Trey, and uh it looks like they're barely able to keep their eyes open. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:13.760 I want you to know why, but they worked hard. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:14.319 It was great. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:19.359 And being around the kids for the meals, the kids were so excited about the experience there. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.280 So uh I want to just share that. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:22.000 It was great. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.840 And uh be thinking about it next year uh for your children. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:30.159 I do want to offer condolences and ask you to be in prayer. 00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:36.159 Uh, Pastor Eli this week lost his grandmother, Judy Alexander. 00:01:36.320 --> 00:01:44.240 So be in prayer for he, uh his family, his dad Jamie, his mom Leanne, as they're uh walking through that. 00:01:44.320 --> 00:01:46.400 And I know that's just been a tough thing. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:48.560 Our prayers and thoughts have been with you guys. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:50.159 And uh Mrs. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:54.320 Riggins lost her father, Calvin Johnson. 00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:56.640 Um, got that call just the other day. 00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:06.960 And so be in prayer for Angela and Adrian, Miss Gwen Solomon, her sister, and their family, um, as they'll be having a funeral this week in Georgia. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.359 And I know they would covet your prayers. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:12.479 We also have a team on a mission trip. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:17.919 I think they must all sit right here normally, because there's one gap in the church. 00:02:18.079 --> 00:02:22.319 And uh anyway, if y'all need a closer seat, they're on sale today. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:37.920 Um but anyway, there's 20 plus people that are in Mobile that are working on um, we always do some rebuilding of houses, some painting, some roof work, a lot of different things going on there, led by Lee and Kelly Hibbs. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:44.560 Um, and so there's a bunch of our church out there serving this week, be in prayer for them as well. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:49.680 All right, take your Bible and turn to John chapter 9 and 10. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:54.400 We're gonna look at both of those as we're on to the next I am statement. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:03:00.319 We started out last week with Jesus is the bread of life, and now you're getting two for the price of one this week. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.599 It's a BOGO, and so he says, I am the door, and he says, I am the good shepherd. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:08.560 We're gonna key in more on that, I am the good shepherd. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:16.000 And as you're turning there, I know this every one of us in life is looking for something. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:22.240 Everyone almost every day on their phone is searching up something. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:23.120 Are you not? 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:30.000 We're always in a search, and we're always looking, and we're always finding, and we're always on this path of seeking. 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:32.159 We're searching for success. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:36.319 Or we might be searching for a relationship, searching for a job. 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:38.560 People are searching for significance. 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:43.360 We spend our life trying to find ourselves. 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:53.520 Yet Jesus here in this passage says, You'll never truly find yourself until you find or you're found by the good shepherd. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:04:00.879 I want to read that passage, John 10, 11, and then we'll pray and come back and uh look through it. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:04.560 It says, John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:08.080 The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:09.599 Let's pray. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:12.080 God, thank you for today. 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:16.719 Thank you, God, for a church body showing up. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:23.439 Thank you, God, that we've been encouraged, Lord, before we've ever opened the word this morning. 00:04:23.599 --> 00:04:29.680 We've been encouraged through worship, we've been encouraged by hospitality and service. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:34.000 We've been encouraged, God, continue we ask to fill up our hearts. 00:04:34.159 --> 00:04:38.000 Lord, you know that what's been behind us, you know what's ahead of us. 00:04:38.159 --> 00:04:44.079 And God, we ask, Lord, that we would be filled up today, right here in your presence. 00:04:44.239 --> 00:04:46.399 Let us see the good shepherd. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.679 Lord, we do lift these families who have had great loss. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:52.079 God, I pray that you would walk with them through that. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:05:01.039 We lift our team in Mobile, God, and ask that you would give them strength, give them energy, and God, may they share the gospel. 00:05:01.119 --> 00:05:03.759 And Lord, I pray your blessing over our service today. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:04.639 In Jesus' name. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:05.519 Amen. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:10.159 So look now back to John chapter 9 as you do. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:15.759 Uh the Good Shepherd, first thing I want you to know this morning, the Good Shepherd pursues. 00:05:16.239 --> 00:05:19.119 John 9, you have to see the end of this story. 00:05:19.359 --> 00:05:25.279 By the way, your chapter headings almost in every place of the Bible is a continuous letter. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.000 At times, it's not a breaking point. 00:05:28.159 --> 00:05:41.599 Okay, we read it with these chapters that break up, and sometimes they do, but this is a continual letter, and it says here in John 9, 34, They answered and said to him, You were completely born in sins. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.679 They're talking to a blind man. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:45.439 And are you now teaching us? 00:05:45.599 --> 00:05:46.959 And they cast him out. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:53.359 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had found him, he said to him, Do you believe in the Son of God? 00:05:53.599 --> 00:05:58.399 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:03.119 And Jesus said to him, You have both seen him, and it is he who is talking with you. 00:06:03.359 --> 00:06:05.359 Then he said, Lord, I believe. 00:06:05.599 --> 00:06:06.639 And he worshipped him. 00:06:06.799 --> 00:06:16.399 And Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be blind. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:23.199 The word there for good shepherd is kalos, and it means excellent or noble. 00:06:23.679 --> 00:06:28.719 He isn't a shepherd, he is the one excellent shepherd. 00:06:29.039 --> 00:06:40.239 God compares us now in this passage to sheep, not lions, not bears, not eagles, to sheep. 00:06:41.039 --> 00:06:44.479 How many of you, your high school team mascot was sheep? 00:06:44.719 --> 00:06:45.759 Raise your hand. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:47.439 Anybody? 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:51.039 I've seen some pictures of some mascots before. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:58.799 And uh I did find one, you can look it up in Colorado, they have a mascot called the Lambkins. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:06.079 But you've never heard anyone in a football game or anything say, now let's go get them sheep. 00:07:06.799 --> 00:07:11.279 You've never heard a military person ever say, now release the sheep. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:17.679 Never have you seen a superhero that had the power of sheep. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:22.479 But Jesus compares us to sheep. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.119 Well, let's look at what he has to say about that pursuit. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:28.799 Letter A, he finds the forsaken sheep. 00:07:30.159 --> 00:07:40.879 In John 9, there, this blind man who has been transformed by the healing powers of Jesus for the first time sees, and when he sees people, they act ugly. 00:07:42.159 --> 00:07:49.359 And by acting ugly, they don't like his answers of what has happened in his healings, and so they cast him out. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:08:03.599 A man that was blind from birth, in other words, never knew visions, or never knew vision, and I've heard commentators say this that in his healing, because he was born in blindness, that God did even more than heal. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:05.359 He created, right? 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:08.399 Because he hadn't degenerated to blindness. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.919 Jesus created vision for the first time in his life. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:14.000 And he did it on the Sabbath. 00:08:14.479 --> 00:08:20.560 And so when he was telling his testimony to the Pharisees, they kick him out. 00:08:20.719 --> 00:08:23.119 They cast him out of the synagogue. 00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:30.399 And so when you see this passage, Jesus hasn't been in the picture with the blind man since verse 6 of John chapter 9. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:37.120 Now, all the way down in verses 31 through 39, he shows back up again, and this is what happens. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.360 This blind man has been cast out, and verse 35, it says something important. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:44.240 And Jesus found him. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:47.200 This man had never seen Jesus. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:52.960 Jesus puts healing on him, he spits on the ground, he says, Now go to the pool and wash, and you will see. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.200 He goes and does that, and Jesus is gone. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:09:03.200 And now all of a sudden, Jesus gets word that this man has been cast out of the church of the synagogue. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:08.080 And it says, verse 35, and Jesus found him. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:17.360 Some of you don't remember the exact sermon, some may not remember the exact prayer or song, but I bet you remember this. 00:09:17.680 --> 00:09:18.879 He found you. 00:09:19.680 --> 00:09:21.280 Did he find you? 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:26.639 Jesus is the great finder of men. 00:09:26.800 --> 00:09:30.639 How many of you ever watched the television show, The American Pickers? 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:36.240 Listen, sometimes I like to just fall asleep to something, but I like this show. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:37.360 I like this show. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:38.480 I turn the show on. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:56.720 I like Mike and Frank, and they'll pull off on some dusty road somewhere, and they'll go looking for what they call as rusty gold, and they'll go in search of things that you and I would say are broken, they're old, they're bent, they're rusted, they are just junk. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:11.759 But pickers dig through piles, pickers climb through spider webs and in unsafe conditions, and pickers look for something, and all of a sudden you'll hear in this show out of nowhere, I'll give you$4,000. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.920 Because these people are trained to see value when everyone else sees waste. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:25.200 Everyone saw Zacchaeus, the cheater. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:28.160 Jesus saw somebody that could be a son. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:37.680 Everyone saw a Samaritan woman at a well who had five failed marriages, and Jesus saw the first missionary to her town. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:45.200 Jesus saw Paul when everyone else saw Saul, someone that was persecuting Christians. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:46.320 Are you getting the picture? 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:53.680 Jesus traveled across the water and saw a demoniac that was filled and saw the first person that would be a missionary to his town. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:56.240 Everyone saw blind beggars. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:59.519 And Jesus said, I see a worshiper. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.680 You see, Jesus is the great seer of things. 00:11:03.920 --> 00:11:06.240 Everyone else saw what people were. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:10.480 Aren't you glad that Jesus sees what we could be? 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:12.800 And he has for you and me. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:14.080 Aren't you thankful? 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:16.399 He finds forsaken sheep. 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:19.680 Let her be, look at verse 39 through 41. 00:11:19.920 --> 00:11:21.600 He faces false shepherds. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:34.879 And Jesus said, For judgment I've come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:41.600 Then some of the Pharisees who are with him heard these words, and they said to him, Are we blind also? 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.000 And Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no sin. 00:11:46.160 --> 00:11:50.560 But now you say, We see, therefore your sin remains. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:56.240 This man has been cast out his whole life, and suddenly everything changed. 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.680 He's cast out to his face once it all changed. 00:11:59.920 --> 00:12:05.040 Sight or no sight, these people are being ugly to a man that's been healed. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:07.200 But I want you to see something a little bit. 00:12:07.280 --> 00:12:10.399 I want you to take your Bibles and I want you to turn to Ezekiel. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:16.879 Say, Pastor, how in the world is John, the gospel, tied in with Ezekiel? 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:18.560 Well, I hope we'll see. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:27.360 This is a New Testament picture of an Old Testament issue and yet a coming issue. 00:12:27.680 --> 00:12:29.680 Ezekiel chapter 34. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.960 We'll just read verses 1 through 5. 00:12:35.280 --> 00:12:40.960 It says, And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:46.080 Prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds. 00:12:46.560 --> 00:12:50.240 Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. 00:12:50.560 --> 00:12:52.960 Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:59.120 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:11.920 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost, but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:19.360 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. 00:13:19.680 --> 00:13:24.639 So I want you to understand there was a prophecy in the Old Testament against shepherds. 00:13:25.040 --> 00:13:39.440 Shepherds during this time in Israel, in John 10, uh, were standard political figures, kings and rulers, royal courts, judges, Pharisees, and priests. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:48.720 And these men were using their influence to gain, while other people, like a blind beggar, were not gaining anything. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:54.480 They were actually getting excommunicated from the church from these shepherds. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.720 And so we see this influence that infiltrates. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:05.040 Now I want you to see in John chapter 10, just look at verse 3 through 6. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:15.759 He says to him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads him out. 00:14:15.920 --> 00:14:21.920 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 00:14:22.160 --> 00:14:28.399 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:32.800 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which he spoke to him. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:34.639 So this is what you need to see. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:47.519 The shepherd or shepherds of sheep, the Pharisees, the church folks, those in power, became predatory to those who were weak. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:50.240 They were only building for their wants. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.560 However, they could manipulate to get gain, that's what they desired to do. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:15:05.920 And in John 9, these Pharisees, because of their rigid adherence to their own man-made rules, this doesn't fit our program, this doesn't fit what we believe. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:13.600 This Jesus who's healed this man, it's actually becoming an offense to us because maybe people are going to follow him and not us. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:17.680 And so there's this whole problem that they were going against. 00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:27.519 And instead of seeing Jesus, they missed the presence of God on earth because of their man-made rules. 00:15:27.680 --> 00:15:34.960 I wonder sometimes if some churches might miss the presence of God because we've got this box and he's got to fit in it. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:42.480 And the Pharisees tried to put Jesus into this political box that he could come along and help their pursuit. 00:15:42.800 --> 00:15:44.399 But his own pursuit? 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:49.680 I like this in that passage in Ezekiel. 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:52.320 But Jesus pursues anyway. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.720 In Ezekiel 34, 16, he says this, You won't shepherd my people, leaders? 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:01.280 And in verse 16, he says, I will seek what was lost and bring it back. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:10.560 What was driven away, I will bind up, I will help the broken, strengthen that which was sick, and I will destroy that which was judging. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:13.840 This is what's happening in this passage. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.160 The blind man is not received when he's been healed. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:27.680 Can you imagine what it would look like if somebody in here today came in blind and they left and everything they're seeing and how their walk changed and how their life changed? 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.879 And you would want to come alongside and say, What happened? 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:35.440 Well, these people asked that question, but then they, you know what they did instead? 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:43.280 They interrogated him, they bullied him, they insulted him, and ultimately they kicked him out of church. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.160 Church today. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:52.240 Galatians 6 2 says that we should bear ye one another's burdens and love. 00:16:52.560 --> 00:17:04.079 And yes, God has called me to be the shepherd of this local body under his shepherdship, but all of us have a part in shepherding the people that are a part of our church. 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:10.000 When people go through a financial hardship, the church should be the first people to shepherd them out. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:17.039 When people go through brokenness, the church should be the people not kicking them out that should come alongside of them. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:26.480 When you go through a health need, the church, the body of Christ should come alongside of you and not be the first to excommute, not to kick you aside. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.639 You see, Jesus as the shepherd says, We step in. 00:17:31.439 --> 00:17:34.319 And Jesus had no problem facing false shepherds. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:39.519 If you look through the Bible there in Matthew, you see the seven woes of Jesus to the Pharisees. 00:17:39.679 --> 00:17:41.919 He calls them out for their stuff. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.599 He doesn't just take it. 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:48.399 The good shepherd has no problem facing and fighting false shepherds. 00:17:48.879 --> 00:17:54.079 But he didn't find us just to take us in and then leave us. 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:55.839 He paid for us. 00:17:55.919 --> 00:17:57.839 I want you to see the second thing. 00:17:58.159 --> 00:17:59.759 The Good Shepherd pays. 00:18:00.399 --> 00:18:03.439 Look down at John chapter 10, verse 7 through 9. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:14.959 Then Jesus said to them again, Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:20.079 All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:21.199 I am the door. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:28.079 If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.079 Letterase this, that he provides for his sheep. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:35.439 I am the door is another one of the I am statements. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:40.000 I said we're getting two for one, and we could spend some time here, but it means this. 00:18:42.159 --> 00:18:43.359 The door to what? 00:18:44.159 --> 00:18:44.959 You would ask. 00:18:45.199 --> 00:18:48.319 Well, ancient sheep folds had one opening. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.839 And Jesus says, I am the one way. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.759 It's a picture of the kingdom of heaven. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.439 And he says, I am that door. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:56.959 I am the access. 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:04.480 And you know some people today, you've got family members, you know people who are kind of iffy on what it takes to get to heaven. 00:19:04.639 --> 00:19:08.559 And Jesus makes this very clear, not just this passage, but others. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.519 This is not a good works thing. 00:19:11.679 --> 00:19:15.519 It's not a maybe there's some other family members' things. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.159 It's not a Muslim thing, a Buddhist thing. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:19.679 He says, I am. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:22.879 This is the one door of access. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:27.679 None of your good works are going to, you're not going to stand before God one day and say, I did all this. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:34.799 He says, Jesus, did you accept and receive the one doorway, the access? 00:19:34.959 --> 00:19:36.559 And so the sheepfold. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.039 Here's the question I thought of. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:44.879 If there is one door, why doesn't everyone just go to that door? 00:19:47.439 --> 00:19:49.599 Well, we're compared to sheep. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:50.959 Let's go back there. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:57.519 Sheep have, unlike some other animals, no homing instinct. 00:19:58.159 --> 00:19:59.279 Hold on to that. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.319 Sheep don't have a homing instinct. 00:20:02.879 --> 00:20:04.799 I have a little Yorkie. 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:09.039 And sometimes I'll be walking little Charlotte. 00:20:09.679 --> 00:20:14.079 And sometimes I'll call Charlotte's name, and sometimes she comes. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:16.240 Sometimes she'll like, Charlotte, come here. 00:20:16.399 --> 00:20:16.959 Sometimes. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:23.359 Sometimes she looks at me and she says, I heard you, but I'm not going to honor your request today. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:29.359 If we go for a walk and there's another dog, guess what? 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.759 Charlotte listens to me zero. 00:20:32.159 --> 00:20:37.199 She goes off sprinting, getting ready to be eight, all seven pounds of her. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:39.439 I'm like, what are you doing? 00:20:39.679 --> 00:20:45.279 And if she gets tired of her walk with me, she walks me back home. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:49.599 If she hears a loud noise, she knows where home is. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:52.559 She doesn't have a problem understanding how to get home. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:57.679 Wherever we are, no matter what side of the neighborhood I go walking, she knows home. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:02.399 Sheep are not born with that same instinct. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:05.679 Humans can be a lot like sheep in this way. 00:21:05.919 --> 00:21:19.279 We are born with a moral compass, but hear me, church, it takes the great work of the Holy Spirit of God to give us a true north, true guidance from the great shepherd. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:25.119 Sheep will spend an entire day grazing and never lift their head. 00:21:26.399 --> 00:21:32.240 Wandering about aimlessly and never looking for home. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:34.159 Can you imagine this? 00:21:35.439 --> 00:21:41.919 The sheepfold could be in plain sight, but they don't have a home instinct. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:48.319 You know people who intellectually believe in the way of Jesus. 00:21:48.879 --> 00:21:57.599 Intellectually, they could regurgitate scripture, they can tell you a lot of what I'm saying, but you also know this their heart is a million miles from God. 00:21:58.399 --> 00:22:00.879 You may be here today and you're like that. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:02.799 You know what I'm saying. 00:22:02.959 --> 00:22:05.599 You would say, I believe what you're saying. 00:22:05.919 --> 00:22:11.119 But to take hold of it and do something about it, you're like a sheep. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.759 I know what you're saying, but all of the other sheep are going over here, Pastor. 00:22:15.919 --> 00:22:18.879 And my whole American culture is going over here, Pastor. 00:22:18.959 --> 00:22:20.879 I know, I yes, I believe what you're saying. 00:22:20.959 --> 00:22:23.039 Maybe one day I might even do it. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:28.559 I've and Intellectually, I get it, but I like what the sheep are doing. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:31.279 Do you understand? 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:32.639 We're a lot like sheep. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:34.879 The Bible calls that conformity. 00:22:36.159 --> 00:22:37.119 Conformity. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:47.839 In 2005, in the country of Turkey, 1,500 sheep walked off a 50-foot cliff. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.039 Can you imagine being there and seeing this? 00:22:52.159 --> 00:22:54.000 This is an interesting part. 00:22:54.159 --> 00:22:59.919 Only 400 of 1,500 died because 400 created a fluffy pad. 00:23:01.919 --> 00:23:04.639 And 1100 survived. 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:17.919 Now, we're not solely you and I, herd creatures, but subconsciously we crowd in and we conform. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:22.399 I told the serve team this morning, this door got open about a year ago. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:27.679 And I want to dare you for one minute for everybody in here not to stare. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:28.720 I'm up here preaching. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.519 Get them on there like, what's going on? 00:23:32.159 --> 00:23:33.359 There's a door. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:35.199 And some of you tried. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:40.959 I think you tried kind of hard and you knew it was distracting me, but you're like, there's a light coming in the church. 00:23:41.199 --> 00:23:42.319 What has happened? 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:48.879 And if you send a baby through here right now that cries, I dare you, your neck will, you'll be you can't, right? 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:53.839 We all kind of, if somebody took off sprinting out the door, most of you, you wouldn't have to ask the question. 00:23:53.919 --> 00:23:55.679 You just said, I'm not saying in there. 00:23:55.919 --> 00:23:56.720 They ran. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:12.079 We have this conformity thing, and I know that's silly, but for you and I, Romans 12, 2 says, be not conformed to the whole other pile of sheep. 00:24:12.159 --> 00:24:13.599 Be not conformed to this world. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:14.159 How? 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:19.359 Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you will know what is the will of God. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:25.839 So we need leadership because we are poised to be attacked, wandering aimlessly. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:29.199 When we wander with other sheep, we're poised to be attacked. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:33.519 So Jesus says, you know what I'll do for my sheep? 00:24:33.919 --> 00:24:35.519 I'll be the door. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:37.199 Well, that you said that's access. 00:24:37.439 --> 00:24:38.480 Well, it's not just access. 00:24:38.879 --> 00:24:40.480 He says, I'll be the door. 00:24:40.639 --> 00:24:46.079 Anything, anything, not just sheep, anything tries to get into my sheep that are already here. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:46.799 Guess what? 00:24:46.959 --> 00:24:48.639 They gotta face the door. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:54.079 There's one way in, and I am going to stand and be the door of my sheepfold. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.879 It's also a promise. 00:24:56.959 --> 00:24:58.959 It's access, but it's a promise. 00:24:59.679 --> 00:25:01.439 He is at the gate. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:04.079 Well, what do we have access to? 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.319 That's an important question. 00:25:06.959 --> 00:25:10.480 He says, within the sheepfold there is pasture. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:13.359 Psalms 95, verse 7 says this. 00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:16.480 I want you, church, to be a good verse to highlight right now. 00:25:16.959 --> 00:25:18.879 It says, He is our God. 00:25:19.439 --> 00:25:22.079 We are the people of his pasture. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.199 We are the sheep of his work. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:28.399 We are the people of his pasture. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.480 So let me compare this in Psalms 23. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:35.039 Y'all can turn there. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:36.639 Let's turn for just a second. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:41.439 Middle of the book. 00:25:43.199 --> 00:25:44.639 Psalms 23. 00:25:46.879 --> 00:25:49.599 Some of you memorize this as a child. 00:25:53.439 --> 00:25:57.119 In Psalms 23, it says, The Lord is my shepherd. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:58.639 I shall not want. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:00.639 He makes me to lie down in what? 00:26:00.959 --> 00:26:02.000 Green what? 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.359 Pastures. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:04.879 What's in the sheepfold? 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.759 And then he says, Within that, he leads me. 00:26:07.919 --> 00:26:09.039 Look at all the verbs here. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.480 He leads me beside still waters. 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:11.199 Another verb. 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:12.879 He restores my soul. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:15.119 Doesn't that sound like abundant living? 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:19.759 He leads me in paths of righteousness inside his sheepfold for his name's sake. 00:26:19.919 --> 00:26:24.319 Yea, that I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 00:26:24.399 --> 00:26:27.119 You're with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:26:27.199 --> 00:26:28.639 You prepare a table before me. 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:34.639 I may have enemies right at my table, but you anoint my head with oil, and my cup runs over. 00:26:34.959 --> 00:26:39.919 Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 00:26:40.159 --> 00:26:44.559 That is, in other words, taking John 10, which we're at, John 10, 10. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:47.759 And Jesus says, The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy. 00:26:47.919 --> 00:26:52.079 He says, But I came to give you life, the good shepherd, and life abundantly. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:55.199 He says, Within the sheepfold there is abundant life. 00:26:55.359 --> 00:26:58.959 And we point back to Psalms 23 to define what is the abundant life. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:01.599 He says, It is comfort, it is peace. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:07.439 It is, even though I got an enemy, I'm okay because I am next to the great shepherd. 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:08.799 I'm next to the door. 00:27:08.959 --> 00:27:11.519 I'm in the sheepfold, but I got pasture. 00:27:12.959 --> 00:27:14.799 That's abundant living. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:18.959 He's not just saying you have access to eternal life, that is one part of it. 00:27:19.199 --> 00:27:22.720 But right here in John 10, abundant living. 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:29.039 An abundant life can be described as this: your proximity to the good shepherd. 00:27:29.679 --> 00:27:31.919 How close are you to the good shepherd? 00:27:32.159 --> 00:27:35.439 He says, I came to give you life and life more abundant. 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.159 Are you close to the good shepherd? 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:42.079 Or are you wondering, with a pack of sheep? 00:27:43.199 --> 00:27:45.759 You want pasture? 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:47.679 You want peace? 00:27:47.919 --> 00:27:50.399 I'm not saying life without problems. 00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:53.039 But get next to the good shepherd. 00:27:53.439 --> 00:27:54.240 Same language. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:28:01.359 And Eric, I love what it says at the end of Psalms 23, because the word abundant, same language, Psalms 23, he says, My cup runneth over. 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:03.039 Abundant means overflowing. 00:28:03.199 --> 00:28:05.039 He says, I came to give you this abundant life. 00:28:05.199 --> 00:28:06.000 Psalms 23. 00:28:06.159 --> 00:28:08.720 In that pasture, I'm overflowing. 00:28:08.879 --> 00:28:13.359 How many of you just want to say, Man, I hope for a mediocre week? 00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:16.959 I hope it's so-so. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.359 No, you say, I want a great week. 00:28:21.679 --> 00:28:24.480 As a business person, I want abundance. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:27.519 As a husband, average. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:32.399 No, I want great, overflowing abundance. 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:37.759 Jesus says, the way on this earth to live that life is to get next to the good shepherd. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:38.959 All right, let her be. 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:42.000 He purchases his sheep. 00:28:44.159 --> 00:28:46.000 Look at 10 through 15. 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:51.199 John 10, 10 through 15. 00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:52.959 Again, our red 10. 00:28:53.199 --> 00:28:55.439 Thief does not come except to steal, kill, destroy. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:57.839 I've come, they have life, life more abundant. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:03.359 I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:07.599 But a hireling, highlight that, we'll come back to it. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:09.519 He is not the shepherd. 00:29:09.679 --> 00:29:14.159 One who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:17.199 And the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:22.720 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 00:29:22.959 --> 00:29:27.919 I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I'm known by my own. 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:34.799 As the father knows me, even so I know the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:38.240 He says he lays down his life. 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:46.799 Now, it would not be typical for a shepherd, a farming shepherd, to give his life for the sheep. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:54.559 He would want to protect the sheep, he wanted to protect his investment, but die for a sheep? 00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:56.399 That would not be typical. 00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:02.480 David fought lions and he fought bears, but he didn't give his life up for his sheep. 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:03.599 This is different. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:06.959 And he repeats it through this passage five different ways. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:09.279 I lay down my life for my sheep. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:11.519