 It is absolutely amazing that I had no idea that these people even existed. I formally believe that every sheep needed a shepherd, that every sheep has to be brought to the shepherd and the shepherd takes care of that sheep, that shepherd guides the sheep, that shepherd keeps the sheep, protects the sheep from danger and then ultimately delivers that sheep to a particular destination. But I had no idea that what we have are self-shepherding sheep because apparently I missed it, that there are sheep who have no need of a shepherd, who brought themselves to the shepherd, who are keeping themselves with the rest of the sheep, who are shepherding themselves, who have no need of a shepherd because they can walk straight on their own, who are never off by themselves where a wolf can attack them, they need no protection. I had no idea that these particular sheep ever existed. However, from what I can tell, from how I can best read the scriptures, there's no such thing. Obviously, I'm being facetious. So if you are a sheep and the question is, I've asked this question again, I'll ask it again, how many of you would identify as a sheep, a sheep of God? How many of you would do so? Well, I would. Now the question is, how did I become a sheep? Now, before we look at how we got to become his sheep, I want to go over some things that are told about sheep. And this is very important because sometimes I think we get a little too caught up in ourselves feeling good about ourselves as though we are the ones that are actually shepherding ourselves. Notice what he says in John 10. He says that he, that's Jesus, when he puts forth all his own, his own what? Well, his sheep is what he's talking about. He goes ahead of them and the sheep, that's you and me. That is, if indeed we are sheep, what do we do? We follow him because, and he even gives a reason why we follow, because we know his voice. We are knowing. We know his voice. This is a pluperfect, active indicative, meaning this is also something that we have been knowing. We know his voice, but notice what he says in verse 5. What sheep will never ever do a stranger. They simply will not follow. Why? By the way, when he says simply not, will not follow, that's a nice way of putting. But he says in the most emphatic ways at no point in time in the future, because this word right here, many syllable Greek words, says, akeluthesus in, this is saying that in the future they will follow. But he says, who made two negations? They will never ever ever in the future follow a stranger. A stranger they will never ever ever in the future follow. That's Jesus making that statement. And he says, but because they do not, I'm sorry, but they will flee. That's also in fact, he says, but they will flee from who? From the strangers or whatever you think the stranger is. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, New Ageism, progressivism, you name it, atheism, whatever. He says that the sheep will flee from that. Why? Because they don't know the voice of the stranger. They don't know the voice. And so I think that's vitally important to show what at least what Jesus say about us as sheep. Sheep, think about sheep. If you were naming a sports team, you would never name the team, the Chicago sheep, the San Francisco sheep, the New York sheep, the Indianapolis sheep, the Minnesota sheep. No, you would give it a ferocious name, a fighter. You know, like a tough animal, a bear, an eagle, right? A cult, something you wouldn't name in butterfly and you certainly wouldn't name a sheep. How many teams you know have their names as the so-and-so sheep? That'd be a laughing stock, right? But what does God call us? God didn't call us anything ferocious. He didn't call us lions. He didn't call us tigers. He didn't call us bears. He didn't call us eagles. He didn't even call us even ferocious, horrible animals. You know, bottom feeding animals, you know, scavengers. He didn't call us vultures or anything like that. He didn't call us crabs. He calls us sheep. Why? Because sheep are just as dumb as they get, just as defenseless as they get, just as wayward as possible and they are so dirty and they do things. Once you save them, what do sheep do? Go right back into the very thing that they need to help getting out of. Why? Because that's what sheep are. Sheep need a shepherd. Some of you all apparently don't need a shepherd. Some of you all apparently can shepherd yourself. But those of us who know better, who knows that we need a great shepherd who will change us on the inside and will lead us, as Jesus just said, we have that sheep. As a matter of fact, even in verse 16 of chapter 10, notice what he says. He's better than starting verse 14. He says, I am the good shepherd. That's Jesus. Think about it. He's a good shepherd. Does that mean that he's going to let any of his sheep ever go away or go straight? No, because he's a good shepherd. What kind of shepherd would lose a lot of sheep? Not a very good shepherd. I, myself personally, if I were in charge of the sheep-running company, I would fire that shepherd. That's not a very good shepherd. But he says, I am the good shepherd and I know my own and my own know me. He knows us and we know him. That's why he says, a sheep, we will hear his voice and follow only his voice, even as the Father knows me. And I know the Father. He says, I lay that in my life for the sheep. So he says, I have other sheep, which are none of this folks, because of Gentile sheep. He says, I must bring them also and they will hear my voice and they will become one flock with one shepherd. And so us as sheep, we can understand and rest assured that we are sheep in good company of a good shepherd. And how do we become sheep? Well, Jesus also said earlier in John 6 that all of us all have been given to him by the Father. And all that have been given to him will certainly come and he will never, ever, ever cast out. And he says, every last one of them, verse 39, he won't lose not a single one. And here's the other thing. Here's the more important thing. Or I'm sorry, I'm not saying the more important thing. But just as important about us sheep, because we have a good shepherd who will never fail and will get us to where he wants to get us to be in verse 47, he says, I truly, truly say to you that whoever is believing, that's the sheep. Only the sheep are the believing ones. The believing ones are the sheep. He says, that person has present tense life right now. So if you are a sheep, there's two questions. One, how did you get to be a sheep? Well, the Father gave you to the son. The Father gave you to the shepherd to be his sheep. And then two, if you are a sheep, when do you have life? What point do you have life right now? And how long does that life last? He says forever. And so God's resistance temptation, the arrogance, the prideful tendency to think that what you've done, what you've accomplished, how you are going is all because of you. It is not. You are not a sheep that shepherds itself. You are not a self shepherding sheep. What you really are, can we be honest, rather you being a super sheep, what you really are is a stupid sheep, what you really are is a slow sheep. What you really are is a slumbering sheep. What you really are is a soil sheep. What you really are is a soft sheep. You can't defend yourself. There's nothing good about you. But thank God that we are not self shepherding sheep. We tried that before we had Christ. We tried on our own. Thank God that we have a shepherd who has all power. That's why he says now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Amen.