John, pt. 63 | John 10:7-11

you will at this time take your copy of the scriptures and turn with me to the gospel of John chapter 10 we will consider verses 7 through 11 the gospel of John chapter 10 verses 7 through 11 and this is the 63rd message and this glorious gospel allow me to open in prayer

Oh God and Father Son and Holy Spirit Lord as always we gather together to hear from you your people has gathered together to hear from you they have not gathered together to hear from me a mere man but God I ask as your man servant that you by the power of your spirit will speak through me or that you will help me to explain to articulate this passage of Scripture and that you will use this as food and drink for the nourishment of their body for the nourishment of the body the body of Christ and I pray this in Jesus name

Amen all right so let's begin with the text but let's start back at verse 1 for context chapter 10 verse 1

Jesus speaking to the Pharisees truly truly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way this man is a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep to him speaking of the shepherds speaking of Jesus the gatekeeper this

Holy Spirit the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own by name and leads them out when he has brought them out when he's brought all his own he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice a stranger they will not follow but they will flee from him but they do not know the voice of strangers this figure of speech

Jesus used with him but they did not understand what he was saying to them verse 7 this takes us into our passage so Jesus again said to them truly truly

I say to you remember he's speaking to the Pharisees I am the door of the sheep all who come before me came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen to them

I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly I am the

Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep maybe this will help

I can hear a little feedback we got a new mic and we're trying to figure it out okay all right all right here we go last week

I began by telling you an ancient story well not an ancient story but it's something that used to take place in past times it's it's very rarely taken place today and it is the story of a

Judas goat a Judas goat is a goat that they would put into the sheepfold into the sheep pen and it's the goal of the

Judas goat was to blend in and deceive this goat was to confuse the sheep to that would allow them to believe that he is one of us this goat is one of us right and again the purpose was to blend in and deceive now the

Judas goat gets this name because of Jesus's disciple Judas Iscariot right

Jesus was among the twelve he was numbered among the twelve he was numbered among the

Apostles but he was not like the other Apostles right he blend in to deceive and to deceive who well to deceive the disciples there's no way that he could deceive

Jesus but it was to betray Jesus and so at this time this throughout history this this goat this

Judas goat was named after that disciple for the purpose of that and this

Judas goat would deceive the sheep on the day of slaughter so when it came time for the sheep to be slaughtered this

Judas goat knew to lead the sheep and some would have a trapdoor that as this

Judas goat was leading the sheep this trapdoor would open and this goat would know to go into the trapdoor while the sheep walked into the door in front of them which led them to slaughter in some cases they did not have a sliding door so the

Judas goat would enter in to the door of slaughter but he would be spared and our theme for this

Lord's Day is one door there's only one door and my proposition that which

I aim to explain just like there is only one door into the sheepfold there is only one door that opens to life there are not many doors that open to life there is one door and in order for someone to be saved they must in fact enter into this one door which is

Jesus now for the question which

Jesus in our outline we're going to identify the biblical

Jesus as well as the defense of who Jesus is so in our outline

I'm going to present before you three things the first is the

I am statements last week we walk through last week was our third week in this chapter the first week we looked at verse 1 the second week we looked at verses 2 & 3 and then last week we looked at verses 10 through I mean verses 1 through 10 and you probably thought to yourself he skipped the

I am statements well that's because I'm doing it this week and I've done it in previous weeks so the first point we will look at the

I am statements second point the his exclusivity in the third point his sovereign protections so point number one the

I am statements point number two his exclusivity and point number three his sovereign protection as we transition let us not forget where we've been

Jesus is responding to a question asked of him by the Pharisees in chapter 9 verse 40 but let's give that some context so look with me in chapter 9 we'll begin with verse 24 so for the second time they speaking of the

Pharisees called the man this man who was born blind and said to him give glory to God we know that this man is a sinner he answered whether he is a sinner or not

I do not know one thing I do know that through that though I was blind now

I see they said to him what did he do to you how did he open your eyes and he answered them

I have told you already and you would not listen why do you want to hear it again do you also want to become his disciples and they the

Pharisees reviled him saying you are his disciples but we are disciples of Moses we know that God has spoken to Moses but as for this man we do not know where he comes from the man answered why this is an amazing thing you do not know where he comes from and yet he opened my eyes we know that God does not listen to sinners but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will

God listens to him never listen how good his theology is never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a blind man you read your

Old Testament no one was ever healed of blindness verse 33 if this man were not from God he could do nothing they answered him you are born in utter sin and would you teach us and they cast him out

Jesus heard that they had cast him out and having found him said do you believe in the

Son of Man this is he saying do you believe that I am God he answered who is he sir notice the sir your translation might say

Lord Lord case LORD which means sir who is he sir that I may believe in him

Jesus answered him you have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you then he replied notice the

Lord is different it's capital L lowercase ORD which means master he said to him

Lord master I believe and he worshipped him Jesus said for judgment

I came into this world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind and as we walk through this we spoke about how

Jesus is speaking of spiritual blindness and how the Pharisees are confusing it with physical blindness look at verse 40 some of the

Pharisees near him heard these things and said to him are we also blind

Jesus said to them if you are blind you would have no guilt but now that you say we see your guilt remains and as we've been walking through chapter 10 this brings to our understanding the covenants and I brought before you the covenants we had the the covenant of redemption the covenant of works and the covenant of grace and in the covenant of redemption what we believe is that God made a covenant with God God the

Father Son and Holy Spirit covenant together to save a people and in this covenant

God the Father purpose to save a people and he sent his son

Jesus Christ to live the life that these people could not live and to take upon himself the punishment that these people deserve and he was buried and he rose again on the third day so he accomplishes the purpose to save the people by living for them and for dying for them and the

Holy Spirit applies that purpose through the preaching of the gospel we who are

Christians are supposed to be delegates sent out into the world to tell people how they are to have peace with God in Romans chapter 5 verse 1 tells us it's by faith therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God there is no other way to have peace with God if you are not justified by faith my dear friends you do not have peace with God you are an enemy of God you are an enemy of God we spoke of excuse me we spoke about the covenant of works how

God is the one who makes covenants we don't agree with God in covenant but God imposes covenants upon people and God imposes as a covenant of works he did so with Adam he did so with Moses I mean with Abraham Moses and David these imposed covenants and it was that you had to do something in order to live and if you did not do it our broker command that was given to you you would either be removed from the land or you will be put to death a covenant of works a covenant of death but God also promised the covenant in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 and this covenant would be brought forth by a seed that came from the woman and it passed from Abraham to David and fulfillment in Christ and so this covenant of grace is this new covenant and we'll walk more through that and if you want to know more about that go back and listen to the past messages point number one the

I am statements look with me at this glorious chapter the

I am statements are found in verse 7 verse 9 and verse 11 look at verse 7

Jesus so Jesus said again to them speaking of the Pharisees truly truly

I say to you I am the door of the sheep look at verse 9

I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and go in and out and find pastor now look at verse 11

I am the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep now we have covered this in great detail in this glorious gospel where we see these

I am statements in the Greek this is ego I me or ego e me depending if you're from the north of the south right of how you say that right it's kind of like the word logos some say logos some say logos yeah it's a tomato potato or how is it potato potato or tomato tomato right depending on how deep south you are right and so the

I am statements is it I am is ego I me which is the Greek the tetragrammaton yo -have -vah -have and so the

Greek translation of the Old Testament is called the Septuagint and so in Exodus chapter 3 verse 14 if you will turn there with me we see the

I am statement given to us by God now in this we know that there rose a

Pharaoh who knew not Joseph at the beginning of Exodus and he enslaved the

Hebrew people for hundreds of years 430 to be well 400 to be exact for the enslavement or it's right around that number and in this time

Moses was born and I can't get into all the detail because of time but Moses sees a man attacking an

Egyptian and this I mean a Moses see is an Egyptian attacking a Hebrew and Moses kills him and then he flees from Egypt fearing for his life and at this time

Moses sees from a distance a bush burning so that's the context look at me look with me at verse 13 this this burning bush this bush that's emblazed with fire that is not consuming is

God and God speaks to Moses from this bush verse 13 then

Moses said to God if I come to the people of Israel and say to them the

God of your fathers has sent me to you and they asked me what is his name what shall

I say to them verse 14 God said to Moses Yahweh said to Moses I am who

I am ago I me ago I me and he said to him and he said say to the people of Israel I am sent me to you this is the tetragrammaton and so when we're reading here in John Jesus uses the tetragrammaton

I am I am in our text Jesus is saying I am God I am

God he is saying that he is God and that God is the door to God and God himself is our

Good Shepherd I remind you of Psalm chapter 23 the Lord Yahweh is our

Shepherd God is our Shepherd God is the Good Shepherd and that's what

Jesus is saying in these I am statements and I would encourage you if you have time to go back and listen to all the

Gospel of John and I go into this tetragrammaton a lot deeper but it's the yo -hey va -hey translated in the

Greek I am and I am ego means I am

I'm I me means I am I am I am God just is point number two his exclusivity his exclusivity here is brought forth from verses 7 through 9 again let's read that together and Jesus again said to them truly truly pay attention listen to me he said

I got something to say amen amen I say to you I am the door of the sheep all who came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen to them

I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture here in these verses

Jesus is speaking about his exclusivity meaning there's only one way

I am the only way that's what this is saying I am the only door

I am the only good Shepherd and yet we know Psalm 23 the Lord Yahweh is our

Shepherd hints to this tetragrammaton the I am statements he does not well so he he does this he represented his exclusivity quite often in in this gospel but also in the other

Gospels as well and we see in the the letters written by the Apostles they point to this exclusivity of Jesus but he does it real clearly and we've looked at this verse several times in John 6 14 which reads

Jesus said to him speaking to Thomas I am the way the tetragrammaton

I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me he says no one comes to the father except through me and first Timothy chapter 6 it tells us that God dwells in unapproachable light speaking of the

Father and the Son and when I would equate the Holy Spirit God dwells in unapproachable light you cannot approach

God God must condescend you cannot approach him he dwells in unapproachable light like I don't know how else to say it's unapproachable

God is unapproachable you cannot approach him he must condescend and that's what he done in Christ but Christ says that no one can come to the father unless they go through him and he also says that no one can get to him unless the father draws them his exclusivity is very narrow when he says

I am the way he tells you the destination to the father

I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me so when he says

I am the way he is speaking about to the father Jesus is the only door to the sheep

Jesus is the only door by which we can be saved and Jesus is the only way to the father and so a lot of times

Christians are accused of of saying that we should not say that there's only one God we should not say that in this one

God there's only one way my dear friends we're only repeating what the

Bible says this is what Jesus says if we should not be ashamed of what the

Bible says and what Jesus says about himself we should say we should agree even though it hurts and say amen oh don't ever let us say oh my to what

Jesus says let us agree with what Jesus says turn with me if you will to Matthew chapter 7 let's look at verses 13 and 14

Matthew 7 13 and 14 this is Jesus speaking he says enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few here in Matthew chapter 7 we have two gates the first gate that is described as wide it's easy but it leads to destruction it leads to hell it leads to consuming fire that does not consume your body in this gate we can find many

Jesus's the Mormon Jesus the

Jesus of Jehovah Witnesses the Jesus of Islam ism and the

Jesus of oneness Pentecostal ism just to name a few the Jesus of Mormon ism according to them is the spiritual offspring of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother brother to Lucifer and brother to all human beings sent into the earth to obey

Mormonism in order to become gods they teach that Heavenly Father was once a man just like us who obeyed

Mormonism in order to in order to be given a planet and to raise up spiritual offspring for himself this is saying that God himself had a

God that he worshipped you find that anywhere in the

Bible concerning the it's concerning the Godhead they teach that the father some of them anyways and I'll make reference to that the father the son and the

Holy Spirit are three separate gods who have one purpose this is what they'll openly say but if you push them on this they'll have to admit that only the father and the son become gods because in order to become a

God you have to once been a man but they like to believe they'll say to y 'all we believe in a

Trinity but they'll say that they unite in one purpose three gods one purpose but if you push them if you know a

Mormon doctrine they'll have to admit that the Holy Spirit is not even a God because it never became a man that is not the biblical account the

Jesus of Jehovah's Witnesses according to them actually believe Michael believe that Jesus is

Michael the Archangel they teach that prior to Jesus becoming flesh he was

Michael the Archangel and when Jesus became flesh Michael ceased to exist in heaven they also teach that at the crucifixion

Jesus did not raise from the dead but that he ceased to exist on earth and the

Michael appeared in heaven that is not the biblical account the

Jesus of Islam according to them is not the Son of God but a prophet sent by God who did not die or atone for sins which means that their

Jesus is true we are all in our sins we're in our sins right now they believe that Jesus was merely a human being but fantastically they believe that he was born of a virgin now how does that work

I don't know he's a mere human being but he doesn't have an earthly father I don't think they really think through their theology they believe that he was born of the

Virgin Mary that he lived a sinless and perfect life and performed signs and wonders they also believe that in the end times it will be

Jesus that comes back he will burn all the crosses and for all those who worship him as God he will throw in fire ladies and gentlemen a little bit of a lie and a truth makes the truth a lie and that is not the biblical account the

Jesus of one is Pentecostal ism according to them is not a Trinity they teach that Jesus and the

Father are the same person and when

Jesus that when Jesus took on flesh there was no God in heaven then when

Jesus was praying to God addressing God he was only praying and addressing his divine self they believe in one

God in one person this is what's called modalism I mentioned that I used to be

I used to act in plays and a play that I used to act in yeah I know you see that right was a play concerning the passion of Christ and I played three different parts in that play so I had three different outfits three different facial faces right and so that's what you call a hypocrite so in ancient days they would have these plays and there would be these masks and they would you've seen these in movies probably where they would act and they would hold these masks in front of their face and then they go behind the scene they'll come back out and they'll have a different mask but if you're an audience member you don't know but if you only have ten people who are acting and you got 30 positions that need to be played you have to play the hypocrite and so that's what that is called when you have to play several different parts in a play you are playing the hypocrite but that's also what this is it's called modalism it's one person playing several different parts and so the

God of one is Pentecostal ism is not the biblical account the biblical

Jesus is God is I am is yo hey va hey is Yahweh is

Lord capital L or D the biblical Jesus is

God the second person of the Trinity the biblical account of God is that there is one

God and yet three distinct persons and we like to break it down into the one what and the three who's the one what is this one being that we would call

God and each person father son and the Holy Spirit is the one

God in and of themselves Jesus is not required by the father to be this one

God he is this one God there is no hierarchy he is

God in and of himself the biblical

Jesus is the son of God son of God meaning that as the son he be came flesh the creator of all things enters into creation by taking on flesh the biblical

Jesus is the son of David son of David meaning that he fulfilled all the messianic promises everything spoken about him in this book he fulfills it he fulfilled it and we looked at that last week if you want to go in depth the biblical

Jesus is the son of man and my son of man meaning that he is God that he is the king of kings and the

Lord of Lords as as the son of God he comes to fulfill what was spoken of as the son of David and as the son of man it points back to him being the son of God which travels through David Jesus fulfills the scriptures the

Bible promises that Yahweh himself would send a servant and that we were to know that he is the servant

Isaiah chapter 43 verse 10 the biblical

Jesus is the narrow gate all other false

Jesus's are the wide gate look with me at verse 14 of Matthew chapter 7 for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few there's only one way one door one gate and it is

Jesus Christ there is no other way heaven has given to us its champion it's not offering anything else this is how we are to be justified and we are his delegates are to go and tell people how to be justified and it's through Jesus Christ the biblical

Jesus leads to life while the false Jesus's lead to destruction lead to hell in our text we're gonna see how this plays out but those today who preach a false

Jesus Mormons Jehovah's Witnesses Islamism one is

Pentecostal ism listen I can write a book on it I can I can name off a lot more but I'll spare you of that time they are false they have false

Jesus's they are thieves and they are robbers they are nothing more than a

Judas goat who's been brought in to blend in and deceive and one day will lead you to the slaughter a thief is someone who will steal from you right you leave your wallet laying down they'll walk up pick it up thumb through it take what they won't and walk away a robber is someone who will take by force give me your wallet that's a robber there's a difference between thieves and robbers and according to Jesus these religious leaders these

Pharisees would travel across sea and land according to Matthew 23 to make a single proselyte and they would make this proselyte twice as much of a son of hell as they themselves were and according to Jesus they were hypocrites because they told the people to keep the law but they themselves did not keep it those that preach a biblical

Jesus enter in through the door which is

Christ we looked at this last week right God gave five gifts the Apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and the teachers and last week

I explained how only two of those are in play I mean three of those are in play today and that's the evangelist the shepherd and the teacher also mentioned where where it says it doesn't say pastor and that's because pastor is the

Latin word for shepherd and so as the evangelist the evangelist those who are evangelist in this world they must enter in through the door which is

Christ shepherds are to enter in through the door which is Christ teachers are to enter in through the door which is

Christ and how do you know who is who well who's leading you to Christ who's actually going through the book who's actually giving to you

Christ and are not trying to deceive you with something that this book doesn't teach so we have evangelists pastor shepherds and teachers and we must enter in through that door and those that are his sheep hear the gospel through them the evangelist the shepherd and the teach and the teacher and when they hear through them they are saved they hear his voice in the gospel that as we preach the gospel

God himself Jesus himself speaks to them they hear him and they follow him

I made mention of I told you I probably wouldn't say it again but I'm gonna go ahead and re -say it how

I I did roofing for a long time and I pulled up at this house and it was a sheep gate had

I don't know 20 30 40 a whole lot of sheep we walk up to it trying to be funny trying to get their attention patting on her leg making noises like trying to get their attention and they wouldn't look at us they didn't look at us they wouldn't even lift their head to us not one and the woman of the house opens the door makes a click and sound with her mouth they all raise their head they see her and they follow after her a stranger they did not hear but they followed their shepherd and as the minister the preacher whoever it is presenting the gospel preaches that gospel

God through that gospel uses the Holy Spirit to apply the purpose of Christ in their life they hear and they follow

Jesus his sheep are those that go in and out and find a pastor turn with me to Psalm 23 notice with me the

Lord capital L or D if you're reading from the LSB it'll say

Yahweh the Lord is my shepherd

I shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leaves me beside still waters he restores my soul he leaves me in paths of righteousness for his namesake even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death right all things work together for good so it was talking about in Sunday school even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death

I will fear no evil right here listen to this for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the

Lord forever this was written as David was on the run from his son absent

I mean on the run from Saul the King Saul and on his on the run from King Saul he was welcomed by his enemies the

Philistines at that time they would set a cup in the middle of the table and they would pour wine into the cup and if they just poured a little bit of wine into the cup it meant you can drink but you have to leave they poured the cup up to the top it meant you can drink stay a while but you're not welcome you do have to leave but if that wine

Exodus the cup and overflows and hits the table it was a sign at that time that you never have to leave you're welcome

David goes into the house of his enemies and in his enemies house they overflow the cup telling

David he never has to leave only through the power of God can that happen he leads me in paths of righteousness he will protect us even though we walk in the valley of the shadow of death but also notice this he says your rod and your staff comforts me now if this was just the

Shepherd he would not have this keenly rod the rod here is speaking of kingship this is speaking about a king

Shepherd and what a David end up being a king Shepherd David is a picture a type of an anti type a picture of something greater who is

Christ who is our King Shepherd turn women back to our text if you are his sheep you will be saved through the gospel and you will find pastor and if you are not his sheep you will not be saved and you will not find pastor you said

Jeff I would you say something like that go back to verse 3 to him the Shepherd the gatekeeper opens the sheep hear his voice and he come on here he calls his own sheep just given the the picture that there's other sheep he calls his own sheep was it say by name and he leads them who his own sheep who heard him he leads them out verse 10 look at verse 10 the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy these

Pharisees these Judas goats these religions of our day who are preaching a different Christ they come only to steal kill and destroy

Jesus says I came that they speaking of his sheep may have life and have it abundantly now if you were to do a poll on one of the most misused verses in all scripture this would have to be in the top ten

God living in the abundant life right that has to be one of the top ten the thief is the one that takes by force this is speaking of the old covenant pharisaical

Jews according to the context right we can draw application and point to these false religious systems of our day or these charlatans that we see on TV in who only wants your money right here he is speaking about this old covenant pharisaical thieves who are trying to take by force force the the

Israelites at that time to continue to remain under Moses versus the new covenant that was inaugurated by Jesus Christ we looked at this last week the old covenant the law was the ministry of death remember the covenant of works do this and live if you don't do this you're going to either die or you'll be removed from the land that's a covenant of death the covenant the new covenant however this covenant of grace is the ministry of life the abundant life is to be in the

Covenant of life the new Covenant the Covenant of grace washed in the blood of Jesus the abundant life is to be in the covenant of life and not to be in the covenant of death.

It is to be in Christ and not under Moses. The abundant life is to be in Christ.

And Ephesians 2 tells us that by faith we are saved. By grace and faith we are saved.

And it tells us that God saved us and he that we are in Christ and as a matter of fact we are sitting with Christ right now in heaven and yet we're still here because we go in and out and find pasture.

Point number three. We'll tie everything together. His sovereignty. Look at verse 11.

He says, I am, remember, Tetragrammaton, the good shepherd.

Who's our shepherd? The Lord, Yahweh, Jesus. Jesus is

Yahweh, is the good shepherd. He says, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

When the shepherd was out in the field and a wolf came, the shepherd would give his life if necessary for his sheep.

And according to, in God's sovereignty, in this fall that took place that separates us from the peace of God, our

God gave his life for his sheep. Question.

How is it that the elect sheep of God are protected? Answer, Jesus the good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep.

Not for all sheep, for his sheep. Those whom he calls by name.

His sheep, he came, he died for his sheep. He lived for them, he died for them, and at this very moment if you're in him he is interceding for you.

This word here interceding is to, is that means that he is advocating. An advocate is the same way that the term that we would use for a lawyer, right?

If you get yourself in trouble, you go to court, you do not speak for yourself, you hire someone to speak for you.

Someone who knows the ins and outs of the law. Jesus right now in heaven at the right hand of the

Father is interceding, speaking to the Father, advocating to the

Father on our behalf. Turn with me to 1st

John chapter 2. This is one of those verses that needs to be explained concerning this subject.

John says in verse 1, my little children,

I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the

Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So right now you and I, we're in Christ, we're

Christians, we're saved, we still have this garment of flesh. God sees us as righteous because of Christ interceding, advocating for us.

We believe in him, we are credited, excuse me, debited with his righteousness. We are counted as if we have not sinned because of Christ.

Look at verse 2. This is where the trouble starts. One of my favorite verses actually says, he is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.

So the question is, is who is John speaking to? This book of John is speaking of two sins.

One sin is them hating their brother. The other sin is that they are denying that Jesus is the

Christ. It's done with two ways. It's to deny that Jesus is the Christ, and it is also to deny that the

Christ came in the flesh. Right here I believe

John is speaking to the Jews who are rejecting the Gentiles. We see this over and over in the epistles,

Galatians. Paul is having to rebuke Peter, and rebuke the Judaizers for coming against Gentile believers.

We also see this in Peter. Peter talks about this same thing over and over throughout this book.

Romans, you could say, Romans is also a rebuke because of the infighting between the Jews and the

Gentiles, them not receiving one another. And I see

John here speaking to his Jewish brothers, and he says, yes, Christ died for our sins.

Speaking of the sins of the Jews, but not just for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world, the sins of Gentiles.

Now go back to our text, John chapter 10, same author.

From verses 1 through 15, Jesus is speaking about the Gentiles.

In verse 3, where he talks about his own sheep, hear his voice, and he leads them out, they follow him, so on and so forth.

It's speaking about the Jews. So verses 1 through 15 are speaking about the

Jews. He calls his own sheep the Jews by name. But then look at verse 16.

I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock one shepherd, speaking of the

Gentiles. Christ died for Jew and Gentiles.

And out of these flocks that are all around the world, those who are his, when they hear his voice, they will respond by following him.

There is no injustice with God. There's no one in hell who wanted to be in heaven, and there's no one alive right now who wants to be in heaven that cannot be in heaven.

God is not unjust. To say that Christ dies for everyone is to say there's unjustice in God.

Imagine if you were this thief who found my wallet and thumbed through it and took my money, and I reported you, and you got arrested, and the fine for stealing my money was to cut off your hand.

That's not justice. That's injustice. That's not fair. What is fair is

I received my money back, and maybe a little bit more. The Old Testament says fourfold.

That would be fair, but to cut off your hand is injustice. And if God punished

Christ on that cross for your sins, and then you die without receiving him, and he punishes the same sins again on you, that's saying that God has injustice in him.

You're saying that God is not just. God is just. And either

Christ died for your sins, or you're going to be the one dying for your sins. Either he took your punishment, or you're going to be punished for your sins.

And we'll dive more into that in a few weeks.

His life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension was for his sheep, whom he will call by name through the gospel.

His sheep are those that hear his voice in the gospel, and they are saved.

They are protected because he was their substitute. He lived for them as a substitute.

He dies for them as a substitute. And here's a sneak peek of what's coming to show how we are protected.

Look at verses 28 and 29 in John chapter 10. He says,

I give them eternal life. Eternal life.

That means you cannot have eternal life and lose it. If he has given you eternal life, you can do nothing to lose it.

It's not your keys. Well, I don't really lose my keys. I have a special, I'm OCD in that way.

Everything has its spot. Well, my family comes messing with my stuff. I move it.

I lose my keys, right? Salvation is not your keys. Salvation is eternal.

It's given to you. You cannot lose it because it is eternal. He says,

I give them, speaking of his sheep, eternal life. They will not perish.

And no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me,

John chapter 6 verse 37, all that the Father gives will come, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my

Father's hand. I and the Father are one.

We are protected because God has given to us eternal life and he holds us in his hands.

But in order to be saved, to have eternal life, to be in the hands of the

Father and the Son, to enter in through that door through Jesus, in order to enter in, to be saved, you must be born again.

You must be given new life. Turn with me to John chapter 3.

This is the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus. He says to him, truly, truly,

I say to you, speaking of Nicodemus, verse 3, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

You cannot see it with your eyes. And look at verse 5. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the

Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That's that door. That's what we enter into. Jesus is that entrance into that kingdom.

Something must first have to happen. Something must happen to you. When you enter in through the door, through Jesus, we enter in through to God's kingdom.

And when we enter in through his kingdom, we enter in the new covenant, the covenant of grace.

Look with me real quick at Genesis chapter 3, verse 15. I'm running out of time.

I'll go through this real quick. No context given in reading, but Adam and Eve had just sinned.

They have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They broke the covenant of works. God's speaking to the serpent, says,

I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

I have a question for you. Is that seed singular or plural? Singular?

Are you sure? If I told you that I was going to the store to buy a bag of seed, is that singular or plural?

Plural, right? Seed can be used both. You can have a seed or you can have a bag of seed.

It's not a bag of seeds. It's a bag of seed. The answer is both.

Through the seed plural comes the seed singular. The covenant of grace was promised to Adam and Eve through a seed,

Christ. And through Abraham, that seed, Christ, was given a nation.

And through Moses, the nation, this is the plural, was given a law. And through David, the nation was given a king.

And through the king came the seed promised to the woman, promised to Abraham, the eternal king, the son of David, Jesus, son of David, the king that lived the perfect life in your place as a substitute.

The king who took your punishment in your place as a substitute, who holds you in his hands.

And because that is true, if you are in him, no

Judas goat can lead you astray. No Mormon Jesus, no

Jehovah Witness Jesus, no Islam Jesus, no one is Pentecostal Jesus, no

Judas goat can deceive you and lead you to destruction. Jesus, our shepherd king,

Jesus is our shepherd king. And with his rod, listen to me, he rules over us.

Jesus as king rules over us. If you're a Christian, you're saying Jesus is your master. He can tell you what to do.

Jesus, our shepherd king, with his rod rules over us and with his staff leads us.

Have you been born again? Are you his sheep?

Fair question. Are you his sheep? Here's how to know if you are. Are you following Jesus?

Are you following Jesus? Are you doing what he told you to do? Are you believing in him and are you loving your neighbors?

And are you ready at the drop of a hat to preach Christ? Are you keeping his commandments?

If you are not, why not? Because listen to me, if you're not following Jesus, you have no assurance in your death.

I don't care how many times you walked in the house, shook a hand and signed a card, you have no assurance in your death. None. Zero assurance in your death.

But if you are following Jesus, if you're believing in Jesus and you're loving your neighbor, my dear saints, you are in Christ and no

Judas goat can deceive you. But if you are not, today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day that God can call you by name because Christ Jesus lived a life you could not live, was buried.

The third day he rose again according to the scriptures and he calls you to follow him.

Believe the gospel. Repent and believe the gospel. We are available to anyone who wants to talk.

Let's pray. Glorious God, Lord, we love your word.

We thank you for it. We pray that you use it in our lives to conform us to the image of your

Son. And Lord, we know that this meal we are about to partake in is for that purpose as well.

Lord, I pray that if there's anyone here today who are your followers, Lord, that if they have sinned this week, that they have already or if not right now,

Lord, that they confess their sins to you. That way they are able to partake in this meal with a clean conscience.

But Lord, I pray if there's anyone in here today stubborn and still in rebellion, even though they profess faith in you,

Lord, that you will keep them from that table if they are unwilling to confess and repent.

Lord, we look to you for all things and we pray that you will use this also in growing us and conforming us to the image of your beloved