 Beginning at verse 35, 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? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him, You have both seen him, and it is he who is talking with you. Then he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. And Jesus said, For judgment I have come into the world that those who do not see may see. And that those who see may be made blind. Then some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words and said to him, Are we blind also? And Jesus said, If you were blind, you would have no sin. But now you say, We see. Therefore your sin remains. Now I'm going to lay a couple of things by way of remembrance as an introduction and then we'll move into the verses before us. But we closed by looking at an argument that had occurred between a formerly blind man and some religious leaders. The man had been born blind, but Jesus had healed him completely. And as we saw last time we were together, we saw that that had infuriated the religious leaders who believed that Jesus was really a blasphemer. And so they began to argue with this man and they began to claim to this man that Jesus was a sinner. And so as they were speaking concerning that they wanted the man to agree with them. But there was no way that he could do so. You see he had been blind. Now he was healed and they couldn't deny it. So he said that he had never heard of anyone opening the eyes of one who had been born blind. And he said that if Jesus were not from God he could do nothing. And so in verse 34 they answered and they said to him, you were completely born in sins and are you teaching us? And they cast him out. You know obviously they were alluding to the fact that they believed that this man had been born in sin. His blindness was congenital. It was actually sin related. And that's the point that they're making. One little thought about that and then move on. You were completely born in sins and are you teaching us? That's really a testimony a lot of us have to be honest with you. When you get saved, you know, we were born obviously as sinners. That's an obvious reality. Scripture makes it very clear there's none good, no not one. All of us are sinners by nature. We don't become sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. It's in our nature to sin. We are children of darkness. But the Lord Jesus Christ has saved us. He opened our eyes. We at one time were spiritually blind. We didn't see him for who he is. And then the Lord through the gospel and by the illumination of the Holy Spirit when we received Christ. Our eyes were open and yet we go and we speak to people sometimes and we share with them about what God has done in our life. And the first thing they want to say is you were born in sin and you're now preaching to us. You're a person who's known for your testimony for the things that you've done. And now you're going to come and preach to me. That's how a lot of us were. That's how I was when I first got saved because of the life I lived prior to Christ. That could be said of me. You were born in sin. You're a sinner. And you're coming here like some self-righteous person to tell me how I ought to live. But you know what? We are not self-righteous when we love people enough to tell them the truth. We are self-righteous when we share from the point of someone who's been touched by the Lord. Our eyes have been opened by God and we want other people to see also. But some people's hearts are so hardened they just don't want to receive that which is being said. And so what they did here is they closed their ears to Him. They blamed His blindness on His sin and then they cast Him out. Verse 35 says that they had cast Him out. And when He had found Him He said to Him, do you believe in the Son of God? And so He hadn't seen Jesus by the way. He wouldn't know what He looked like. And so He wasn't seeking Jesus out at that time. Jesus was seeking Him out. Jesus does that by the way. We've seen that in Scripture. We've seen that in the Gospel of John. Jesus has a way of seeking sinners out. We saw that when Jesus was on His way to a trip and He had to go through Samaria. We saw that in chapter 4 and it simply said in chapter 4 verse 5 of John's Gospel that He needed to go through Samaria. And we know that geographically whenever the Jews would travel from the Galilee to Judah when they go south or north that they would go through Samaria or as I mentioned to you before they would go across to the east they would cross the Jordan River and they would bypass that region of Samaria because the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans and all of that. But we saw that when we were in John chapter 4 that Jesus needed to go to Samaria. Why? Because there was a woman by the well that He was seeking out in order that He might be able to set her free. Jesus has a way of seeking people out. Jesus sought this man out and he sought out the crippled there that was at the pool of Bethesda in John chapter 5 and verse 6 where the Scripture says when Jesus saw this man there when he saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time he said to him, do you want to be made well? Jesus saw the crippled man the crippled man wasn't looking for Jesus. He sought him out. Why? Because Jesus says in Luke 19.10 that he's come to seek the man had said that Jesus was a prophet and therefore he was excommunicated for it. The man had been cast out of the synagogue he was abandoned by his parents but Jesus saw him out and Jesus found him if you want to take a scriptural note Psalm 27.10 is a beautiful Scripture to remember when my father and my mother forsake me then the Lord will take care of me. Isn't that a fact? When my family and my friends have nothing to do with me the Lord doesn't forsake me He's always with me. So Jesus according to verse 35 found him and notice what he says he said do you believe in the Son of God? Do you believe? Do you look for Messiah? Are you looking for His coming to save you? Do you believe? And in verse 36 he answered and said who is he Lord that I may believe in him so notice with me by the way he answers he's ready to believe he's ready to receive what Jesus is saying he simply says show me who he is and so Jesus' response in verse 37 is you've both seen him and it is he who is talking with you once again I had to point something out by way of application in verse 36 the man answered and said who is he that I may believe in him again that's part of what we do and the answers that we are we're all called by God to take the gospel and share it you'll be surprised I'm sure that many of you have already discovered this but you will be surprised if you haven't yet how many people are really open to hearing about Christ you know we hear constantly blurringly really that people aren't wanting to hear about God that this younger generation has no interest and that's just absolutely not true whatsoever a friend of mine all of you would know by name probably Ryan Reese raw Reese's son has a ministry called the whosoever and I was with him the other day being interviewed by him for a radio broadcast that he has and we're talking about the Jesus movement and as we were talking about he was sharing with me some things about what he's seen as he goes out to high schools and he showed me some pictures he said you ought to see this this took place and he gave in the name of the high school I forget which one it is but he showed me a picture he said this is what took place and he shows me the stands because this is an event taking place in a high school and the stands in a basketball court kind of setting he's preaching towards the stands and all and there's a good amount of young people high schoolers in the stands he says every one of those when I gave the invitation everyone came forward and he shows me pictures you know he just didn't just say it he showed me pictures and you see the kids who are walking down and you see Ryan standing there with all the kids from the stands standing around him I am telling you don't give up hope I am telling you don't give up on this generation don't give up on them people gave up on our generation they gave up on us hippies and whatever else came after us another bunch of off scouring bunch of they need to take a bath and get a job put on some shoes they need to cut their hair people people gave up on us but God didn't and you know what when Jesus is ministering to him he simply says who is he Lord that I may believe in him there are people who want to know who he is this man had been touched he doesn't realize he is speaking to the one who touched him but he says who is he that I may believe our job is to present to them Jesus that they might see him and trust him that's something we really need to do and we need to do that regularly and so as he is doing that we need to remember that Jesus had healed him but he still needs to be saved and so as he is speaking to him Jesus verse 37 says you have both seen him and it is he who is talking to you then he said Lord I believe and he worshipped him you don't have to go looking for him he is standing right before you you need a relationship with me and the man's response I believe his expectant faith became his saving faith and notice what happens here verse 38 he worshipped him when I look at that for just a moment he worshipped him that is what has been called the proper response on his part because his worship to Christ is the expression of faith in Jesus and all genuine believers in Jesus Christ worship him we do so because his blessings lead us to give him our thanks and our praise our eyes have been opened and we have the right to worship him for his goodness to us and that is the proper way to treat Jesus Christ Jesus isn't only a man he is not simply a prophet he is not only a wise teacher he is our Messiah he is God in the flesh in this Christmas season it is understood that we would remember for a moment the act of the wise men remember in Matthew chapter 2 verse 2 when the wise men were searching for Christ it says that they asked where is the newborn king of the Jews they said we saw his star as it rose and we have come to worship him and that is what believers do believers worship him and I want you to note something it is instructive that Jesus didn't rebuke him for worshiping him there are those who say oh no you don't worship Christ but Jesus did not rebuke him he accepted his worship why because again he is worthy of our worship now remember Jesus taught us to worship God and to serve God alone remember how the enemy Satan was tempting him and at one point he had said I'll give you everything if you simply bow down and worship me and what was Jesus' response in Matthew 4 verse 10 it is written you shall worship the Lord your God in him only you shall serve Jesus taught and Jesus said it in way of rebuke to Satan that God is to be worshiped and yet and this is an important point by the way I hope I'm making it clear we worship Jesus Christ we have people who knock on the door sometimes and tell us no you only worship God Jesus is not to be worshiped but Jesus received worship we're seeing it right here we're hearing it in the words of the wise men and it is wise to worship him and they said we have seen a star we have come to worship him in this instance here as this man is worshiping him it's not just giving him homage or giving him great respect what he is doing is actually worshiping him and Jesus is receiving it this is what happens Jesus receives worship when you look in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 14 we see the story of Jesus walking on water during a storm and we know the disciples as is mentioned in that passage the disciples are afraid because they're going to drown and so as this is all taking place and the storm is rising and all the apostle Peter is there and that's that ship that boat and then he begins to be afraid they say well it's the Lord and Peter says if it is you Lord then command that I should climb out of this boat and walk towards you and Jesus says well come on I love that story because I picture myself as one of the other apostles to be honest with you because I'd have been yelling go for it Peter you can do it but I just stayed in the boat man that's the way I'm getting out you can do it Peter we believe in you and then Thomas says I doubt it but as he does he climbs out and he does the impossible and he's you know he is saved and you remember how that when they turn and begin to go back to the boat that the apostle begins to sink and Jesus begins to bring some rebukes for all of that and they enter into the boat and when he entered into the boat Jesus rebuked their lack of faith and the wind ceased and it says in Matthew 14 verse 33 those who were in the boat came and worshiped him saying truly you are the Son of God after Jesus was resurrected Mary Madeleine and the other Mary were sent to the apostles and on their way after the resurrection Jesus appeared to them commanding them to rejoice and in Matthew 28 verse 9 their response was they came and held him by the feet and they worshiped him it is right for us to worship him and again notice with me here Jesus didn't forbid that from taking place if it were not right he would have rebuked any who offered him worship and he receives worship and that's why we worship the Lord Jesus Christ well verse 39 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 made blind some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words said to him are we blind also you can almost hear the sarcasm in their voices are we blind also the arrogance the self-righteousness the disrespect are we blind also and Jesus if you were blind you'd have no sin but now you say we see therefore your sin remains that's strong that's a very direct statement if you were blind you would have no sin now remember Jesus in verse 39 for judgment I've come into this world now he came into the world to save it but the effect is to reveal every man's true condition the light reveals the stains that were unseen his light reveals the sin in the hearts of men tax gatherers and sinners were unable to see well those who claim enlightened were left in darkness because they close their eyes and they refuse to see they refuse to see there is a willing a willful rejection you don't want to believe what you're seeing there are people who willfully reject they in their heart they know and yet they decide to not follow there are people who will say that I believe I remember speaking to to somebody once actually this happened more than once it's happened at least twice that I can recall where I have spoken and shared as a young believer with I remember in particular one friend of mine that I was sharing with and and this is the conversation I hope it's not offensive to some but this is the conversation he said to me he said I was raised he was Catholic he said I was raised in the Catholic Church Dave as you know he said and what you're saying I know is true and I said why don't you receive Christ if you know it's true I mean it was dear enough for me to be able to speak honestly with him why don't you receive Christ if you know that it's true and he says because it would offend my mom I said so you're willing to go to hell for your mother and he said yes I am and I said I wasn't willing to go to hell for my mother but I was willing to take my mother to heaven you need to tell her the truth but you need to embrace the truth yourself but there are people who will tell you that no I know what you're saying is true then you say why don't you trust it offends other people I'm not ready maybe later they have all these excuses and so there are people and you know them perhaps you were that way yourself for a while maybe maybe you you've had encounters with them but that's true and so they close their eyes and they're refusing there's a willful rejection and so Jesus in verse 41 says if you were blind you'd have no sin you see they claim to see yet they close their eyes and so they're guilty of what has been called rejecting the light they remained in spiritual darkness they refused to see it's been rightly said our responsibility is measured by our opportunities in Proverbs 28 13 the scripture says he who covers his sins will not prosper but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy these people covered their sin they would not confess and they would not reject and that's why Jesus said your sin remains so now we move into chapter 10 in verse 1 most assuredly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same as a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep to him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hears voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out and when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice yet they will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him for they don't know the voice of strangers Jesus used this illustration but they didn't understand the things which he spoke to them Jesus said to them again most assuredly I say to you I am the door of the sheep all whoever came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them I am the door if anyone enters by me he'll be saved and will go in and out and find pasture the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly and so Jesus has sought out this blind man Jesus found him and in doing so he adopted the role of a shepherd seeking out a lost sheep now that's what we're looking at because Jesus is going to be referring to himself as the good shepherd and we'll be seeing that but this image of shepherd is used a variety of ways in scripture if you take notes you might want to remember this the shepherd the image of a shepherd is used in various ways one the image of a shepherd is actually used concerning God himself God is referred to in scripture as a shepherd we all know Psalm 23 verse 1 the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want in Psalm 95 verse 7 he is our God we are the people of his pasture the sheep of his hand so on the one hand you'll find God in the Old Testament as the shepherd and so you see the image of shepherd used by God the one who cares for sheep but secondly the image of the shepherd is used of Messiah Isaiah 40 verse 11 says he will feed his flock like a shepherd he will gather the lambs with his arm carry them in his bosom shall gently lead those who are with young and so God himself is portrayed with the image of a shepherd but Jesus is also and we'll see that in more detail later on in this chapter but Jesus is also used is also referred to as as the shepherd he's Messiah but third there's a third way that the image is used and that's interesting in that it is used also in reference to false teachers they're called false shepherds you see it especially in Ezekiel 34 but in Jeremiah 23 1 and 2 it says woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor says the Lord therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed my people you have scattered my flock driven them away not attended to them behold I will attend to you for the evil of your doing saith the Lord and so you see God as the shepherd Jesus as a shepherd and you see the false teachers portrayed as shepherds they're false shepherds they're harmful in this passage Jesus is calling Pharisees false shepherds instead of feeding and caring for God's people they're driving them away and Jesus is the true shepherd he seeks for his lost sheep even as he suffered that blind man in Luke remember in Luke chapter 15 verses 4 through 6 Jesus speaks of a shepherd that left a hundred sheep in order that he might seek out the one that's what Jesus portrays himself as in Scripture and so what we're going to see here in John 10 is Jesus being revealed as the door as well as Jesus referring to himself as the good shepherd now I've mentioned this to you but it bears repetition in John's gospel John records what are called the 7 I am statements of Jesus Christ we've already seen John 6 35 where he said I am the bread of life in John 8 verse 12 he says I am the light of the world later in chapter 11 verse 25 I am the resurrection in the life John 14 6 I am the way the truth in the life in John 15 1 I am the true vine in these verses before us Jesus says I am the door and he goes on to say I am the good shepherd so we're going to be looking at Jesus as the good shepherd in our next study but today he refers to himself as the door so in verse 1 most assuredly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same as a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep now let me develop this with you and it becomes much more clear as I do so Jesus is making it clear that the true shepherd has a right to enter what is called the sheepfold that's what he's saying he's saying I say to you in verse 1 he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door climbs up some other way he's a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the shepherd so Jesus is making it very clear that true shepherds have the right to enter what is called the sheepfold now a sheepfold when you think of a sheepfold in the nation of Israel the nation of Israel being an agricultural nation during the time of crisis especially you would have a village a community and in the village you had what you wanted so you might have some sheep in your you know in under your care and there be others perhaps who had sheep under their care and what you had was you had a big pen where the where the sheep would be cared for and you would bring your sheep into the pen at night and you had a doorkeeper the doorkeeper was a guard so the guard would be there to watch for the sheep to make sure that that predators didn't kill them and thieves didn't enter in and steal them and so you had the community guard somebody who was pulling guard who was there as the one who was stationed to protect it now they'd be in an open courtyard but they were able to be protected from bad weather they were also in that area there to be cared for to be saved from the thieves and predators and so the owner Jesus is saying never had to sneak in because he owned the sheep and so as he would go the guard he would walk up to the guard the guard would recognize him and he'd allow him entrance and that's the point that he's making so here's how he's going to develop it and this is a beautiful image and I'm hoping to be able to present it to you in a way that makes some sense and it really kind of blesses your heart the way it does mine because the thief and the robber well that person would have to find a way to sneak in and so he couldn't come in through the guard but the question is I don't know about you I wonder how many shepherds I might have in here you never know I might have a shepherd or two in here what would happen is I'm not one of these experts in what sheep look like they pretty much they all look the same to me when they're on a shish kebab or on a plate they all look pretty much the same they don't look much different and they're good but anyway how do you know the difference how would you know the difference they all look the same and Jesus is actually going to give us something here that's very I think very interesting you see the sheep recognize the voice of the shepherd and I want to show you this it says verse 3 to him the doorkeeper opens the sheep hear his voice he calls his own sheep by name he leads them out when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice they will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers the sheep hear his voice if you are one of the sheep of the Lord you learn to hear his voice remember in John 8 47 how he who is of God hears God's words you do not hear not of God one of the ways that you can know that you belong to the Lord do you hear his voice is your ear attentive to his voice and I am not saying that out in the middle of the night you are going to hear whatever but but are you are you attentive to his voice how do you hear the voice of God we live in a time where people are actually thinking they hear the voice of the Lord but the way they feel their emotions have a lot to do with whether or not they think God is speaking to them how do you hear the voice of the Lord and has your emotions have your emotions ever lied to you have you ever felt emotionally something was true and in fact it wasn't true but because you really believed that it was true and felt that it was true but you find out later on if you haven't then you probably didn't date much in high school because your emotions lied to you all the time she likes me I know she likes me I feel she likes me and you found that out later on but all your emotions said she liked you you know our emotions do lie to us that's why it's important for us not to build lives on emotions and I'm sorry to say this it is a true observation and it's recorded by those who do this as a living generation that we're trying to reach right now is very much more emotion laden they want to feel God not know Him and that makes it very difficult because the way to know God isn't through your feelings because your feelings can lie I mean you can feel that God is speaking to you and really be sure of it and all it is is you ate too much chili you can have a burning heart but it's heart burn and so you have to be very careful with that you have to put your emotions under the supervision of the word because you can feel saved today and not saved tomorrow simply by whether you slept well last night that's a fact you can feel in love now and and not in love tomorrow simply by your diet I mean you can't go by your emotions there's got to be something that's deeper than emotion so what is it what is it that helps me to know God God's word how do I hear His voice by reading His word that's what we're doing tonight every time we read when reading the scripture here we're hearing His voice He's speaking to us and Jesus is saying the one who doesn't want to hear it doesn't want to hear it not because that person's boring he doesn't want to hear it because he doesn't know the voice of the master that's the problem you know I come from a generation that wanted truth you know we wanted truth and I think that's true with many generations and probably the same one even as I'm speaking now the one that the current one there's a need for truth and for us when I went to listen to my pastor Chuck Chuck was not a riveting speaker Chuck didn't my pastor wasn't somebody who perspired and cried and and patrolled the platform and was excited he gave me solid truth to build my life on and I learned very early in my spiritual life that I couldn't trust my emotions I had to trust God's word I had to know what he said and then I had to hold fast to that I can't I can't emphasize that enough and the Bible says that Jesus said it he who is of God hears God's words and then he said to those who were rejecting him you don't hear because you're not of God you're not hungry for what God has to say and he says my sheep hear my voice and that's what Jesus is portraying to us here in this illustration the sheep hear his voice they recognize his call to them so if you're one of Jesus's sheep you hear his voice and second he says he calls his own sheep by name special knowledge of them it's what he's speaking of he knows them and he knows their habits and he calls each sheep individually special attention to them he pays attention to them he watches them any parent here knows what Jesus is referring to if you have one child mmm that's good but if you have two or three or four you learn some lessons because they're not all the same are they parents with more than one if you have one and if you have one real sweet child first you might take all the credit for how good they are you are an awesome parent aren't you but it's their disposition they're just easy to handle then you have a second one and then you realize how bad your wife has been raising the kids it's her fault and you see what happens is you begin to realize that each one has a distinct personality you have one child the discipline you bring on them may be the maybe the belt it may be a paddle and that gets their attention the other one all you need to do is look at them and you look at them and you just shake your head my son David when he was a kid I would spank him and he had attitude and he would look at me and he'd be like is that the best you got that was David Joseph my other son son very disappointed in you and he'd I still remember him he'd ball up his little fists and he'd look at me and he'd cry I'm sorry dad I didn't mean to do that different kids I never spanked him he lies and says I spanked him once he's a liar if you ever tell him I should have spanked that out of him but you learn their habits you learn their ways parents learn the ways of the children you learn their ways it's wise if you observe and study them husbands are to learn the ways of their wives husbands dwell with their wives according to knowledge is what Peter says what does that mean learn her ways get to know her because when she says something like are you going to leave that there that really means pick it up learn her ways because a man will say yeah I might you ask me a question I gave you the answer that's not what she's saying so you learn her ways right I mean that's life by itself that's just life if you want to get along with people learn their ways be an observer watch them talk to them listen to them observe them especially those that matter the most in your life because it helps you to get along well the shepherds observe the sheep and he would know and that sheep would know the shepherd now how did the sheep know the shepherd by the voice the sheep actually learned who the shepherd was because the shepherd would speak to the sheep and he would actually name them because he would see things in the behavior of that little sheep that he would call them a little name they had a nickname a lot of people grew up with nicknames I had one I won't give to you all my children have pet names and nicknames everyone some have more than one name that I will call them and it's my voice when they hear my voice calling them by that name they know daddy speaking to them when they hear my voice calling them by their pet name by what they are calling me we have that it's just a natural thing that many of us have been involved in and that's what he's speaking about he calls his own sheep by name he knows them intimately he knows their ways he knows their habits he knows you by the way he knows your ways and your habits and he pays special attention then he says he leads them out and goes before them bringing them in other words to their destination he doesn't drive them he leads them he gently leads them and he does so as an example not as a tyrant it says in Psalm 23 verse 2 he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters he leads them he goes before them I've told you this old story of somebody who was in Israel and while they were in Israel what they thought was the shepherd walking and the shepherd was actually behind the sheep and the sheep were proceeding in front of him and the shepherd had a rod and he was hitting the sheep that were trailing in the back and he would hit them and yell at them and it would cause him to move and this tourist first time in Israel he sees this guy hitting them and the sheep are running and they're being mistreated this tourist turns to the guide and he says to him I thought the shepherds went before the sheep because that's what Jesus is speaking about here he goes before them and he leads them I thought that the shepherd went before the sheep wasn't there a time that that was true and the guide says oh no that's still true the shepherd still does go before the sheep but that's not the shepherd that's the butcher there's the driving that comes from the one who doesn't love there's the leading that comes from the one who does love Jesus is our shepherd he doesn't walk behind us with a stick to break us he calls us by name he knows us he knows our habits he knows the way we are and he applies that knowledge to help us to bend our will to his he goes before them he guides them he leads them out he's gentle and again in verse 4 it says the sheep follow him for they know his voice they know his voice when a sheep very often would be birthed when a lamb would be birthed the shepherd could be there in attendance of the birth of the lamb and so the mama would give birth to her baby and the shepherd would be there when this was taking place very often because he knew when she was about to give birth they knew that there were seasons for that and so the shepherd would be in there attending to the birth of the lamb and when the lamb would be born and separate from the womb the shepherd would take the sheep and would begin to dry it off and would hold it and would begin to bond with it you can't picture this really but that's what they would do and he would speak to it and he would even begin to talk to the little lamb wife so that the lamb would begin to imprint his voice so from the moment it parted the womb the shepherd spoke to it and that sheep that baby lamb, that little lamb began to recognize the voice of the shepherd and so as he raised as the sheep would grow from being a lamb to a sheep it knew the voice of the shepherd it shows a tender knowledge and concern on the part of Jesus for you because when you were born again he bonded with you and you began to hear his voice and you will not follow the voice of someone else when you get saved and you open your heart to Christ and you say yes Lord save me don't be surprised if someone knocks on your door bring in a different message don't be surprised if you go to work and somebody starts inviting you to go and hear this latest teaching or this new guru or whatever that happens the enemy wants to bring a false shepherd into your life to draw you away from the true shepherd but even as a young believer I had some people come to my door I wasn't more than 2 or 3 weeks old in Christ at the very most I had already started reading the Bible I was taught you pick up the book and you read it and so I read it every night I was reading the Bible going to Bible studies and there's a knock on the door I opened the door there are 2 people there they begin to speak to me and as they're speaking to me they're saying things I've never heard I've been reading my Bible never saw it there and that's the first time I ever had a cult member trying to witness to me to bring me into their way of thinking that was the very first time and I was 2 maybe 3 weeks old in Jesus and I still remember I didn't have answers for them I'm a brand new Christian I'm just learning to read the Bible I'm just learning to be a Christian but the Spirit of God who dwells within you can give you a sense of discernment this is not true and I remember looking at these 2 ladies and saying to them you know I don't think I agree with you I said I don't think what you're saying to me is right oh it is because the Bible says well that's what you say and I don't want to start a problem with you here you know but I don't agree with you I think you're wrong and later on I discover as I'm reading my Bible it's a Holy Spirit it's a Holy Spirit who gives you discernment where you say this is my mom used to use this phrase it's tin this is not solid this isn't real that's a Holy Spirit Jesus says you will not follow the voice of a false shepherd you won't follow him his followers don't do that verse 5 they will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him for they do not know the voice of a stranger Jesus his sheep know his voice and will reject the voice of a false shepherd but again that requires bonding with the shepherd through reading his word and knowing him genuine Christians recognize false shepherds and what is Jesus referring to them as thieves and robbers these false shepherds may even occupy a pulpit but they do not occupy a place in the heart of a true Christian in 1st John chapter 4 verses 5 and 6 speaking of false teachers he says they are of the world therefore they speak as of the world and the world hears them and he goes on to say we are of God he who knows God hears us he who is not of God does not hear us and by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error and so when the teaching of the word goes forth a false teacher goes and speaks and people will follow him because they are not of Christ but a true believer will not follow him the true believer will follow the words of Christ and when they are rightly divided will recognize the truth in them so we are to be alert for those who would rob us or harm us and that's what false teachers do by the way they rob and they harm and so in verse 6 Jesus uses illustration and they didn't understand the things which he spoke to them now when it says they did not understand who is it that didn't understand well that would be the Pharisees who had just asked him if they were blind they didn't understand spiritual truth because they were not his sheep so Jesus said to them again most assuredly I say to you I am the door of the sheep all whoever came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep didn't hear them I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture the thief doesn't come except to steal and kill and to destroy I've come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly Jesus is the door of the sheep you see they are not understanding completely here so he is explaining spiritual things and he is pointing out that he is the only way into the abundant life of the Spirit of God false teachers and unfaithful leaders preceding him could not give life to the sheep because they didn't have words of life you see all a false teacher can give you is spiritual bondage that's all you'll get when Marie my wife was first saved she had a roommate and her roommate had a sister and her sister had gotten involved in a group called the children of God how many of you have ever heard the children of God isn't this interesting the children of God were one of the most well known cults in the 70's I could tell you stories about this I have to be very careful to try and remain on point I'll forget it I'll tell you some stories no when I first got saved people would go to Hollywood a lot of people would go to Hollywood and they would witness why Hollywood I don't know but a lot of people would drive up to Hollywood and they would go up and down the boulevard and they would hand out tracks all of you have probably heard of Elton John Elton John sings of Jesus freaks out in the streets sending tickets out for God that's what he was talking about he was talking about the Jesus freaks who were out there in Hollywood and you know handing out tickets for God they were tracks so that's how much the Jesus movement infiltrated even the current music of the day that's how much we impacted well where there is good there is evil present also and so when the gospel was going out and when hippies who had gotten saved Jesus people there were people who were starting cults there was the Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation and there was the children of God later on called the family of love they changed their name they followed a leader named Moses David Moses David eventually was so sick and so pathetic that he began to have incestuous relationships with his grandchildren grandchildren and he would put out tracks there were called red letter tracks that his words were in red equal to the voice of Jesus Christ his group was having people who were a young woman who would be given to another young man in marriage even if they didn't even really know him they would say you're going to marry this person and they actually joined them together when there was no love commitment relationship they were doing that they had the young women in the children of God who were called flirty fishes they used to go flirty fishing and that meant that they would go the girls from the cult and they would seduce young men and they would bring them back to the communes they'd have physical relations with them that's why they called it flirty fishing in order to steal them and bring them to the commune it was a very evil, evil group of people very evil and Marie's roommate had a sister who was involved in that cult and Marie went with her sister to go and save her where was the city by Bakersfield they went to Bakersfield and delivered this girl from that bondage listen, when you look at cults and you hear the word cult and all you may be thinking that's kind of harmless it's not, it's destructive it steals your soul they're false teachers and they destroy they come to steal to kill and to destroy Jesus is teaching us in this passage now, he's referring directly to the false teachers who are rejecting what he has to say they're not hearing him and that's what Jesus is speaking about and so he's pointing out that he's the door, verse 7 he's the door to the sheep and all whoever came, he says before me are thieves and robbers that's how he describes them but the sheep didn't hear them and then he said, I am the door I will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture so he says, if you come to me you're going to have liberty you're going to have freedom you go in and you go out that speaks of freedom that you have in Christ instead of the legalism that produces regulations he says, I give you freedom 2 Corinthians 3.17 where the spirit of the Lord is there's liberty they're afraid to become a Christian because they're afraid they're going to be in some kind of religious bondage they don't understand that coming to Christ you're set free from bondage you're set free from it you have liberty in Jesus the Holy Spirit works within you and you have the freedom that comes through him and he says in verse 10 the thief doesn't come except to steal and to kill and to destroy and that's what the thief does he's saying the Pharisees and their legalism can only bring people into bondage these people are trying to keep you from coming to faith in Christ he's saying and it leaves people in their sins because the Pharisees are not teaching the people properly because if they had been they would have been pointing people to Christ they're Messiah through their rejection of Christ and by their legalism they were keeping people from God and they were taking advantage of their followers and the result was they were injuring them because they came to steal they stole the people's hearts from God they stole their hearts from Jesus they came to kill they left them spiritually dead by undermining their faith in Jesus Christ and they came to destroy they did so through their opposition to the kingdom but Jesus said on the other hand I've come that you may have life and that more abundantly truth will not only set you free but it produces within you a fountain of life if you hear his voice and you follow him you enjoy fellowship with him you're blessed aren't you you're blessed Jesus came that we might have abundance of grace and peace and love and life and joy and salvation that's why he came I came that you may have abundant life overflowing life I came that you might know what true blessing is you know what we need to do as people of God is we need to stop looking at the world as our source of whether or not we're successful or happy and we need to look beyond that to heaven that's awaiting to a Messiah who loved us and gave himself for us and I look past that because Jesus made a a statement to us that my treasure is there my heart shall be also the things that I value are the things that give me pleasure and enjoyment wherever my heart is my treasure is and I've discovered that I'm supposed to be putting things to heaven and not to safeguard them here on earth because the thief will break in and steal and rust moth and rust will corrode and destroy but with Jesus no thief can steal my joy no thief can erase my name from the book of life no thief can take what God safeguards Jesus gave us abundant life are you enjoying it I hope you are are you enjoying it are you enjoying your walk with Jesus that's a pretty pointed question but it's worthy of asking at this moment if you've got problems cast them on the shoulders of Christ and trust Him He will never leave you nor forsake you He never lets you down and no matter what you go through remember this you go through you don't stay you go through and whatever you go through you grow through and as you learn that your maturity comes have you ever said to God I want to be like Jesus do not be surprised when you're broken do not be surprised when your heart is smashed when you feel rejected when you're hated because if they hated Him they're going to hate you and whatever gave me the idea that I was going to be the most popular person the more I follow Christ the more I remember He was the wounded healer rejected by men spat upon a cursed killed even what makes me think that abundant life is having a new car or a better house or a job what makes me think that the world uses that as emblems of success but what is success I hesitate to say this but I'll say this with respect my wife and I just yesterday went and visited a very dear member of our church who's going to go to heaven real soon real soon and we went and sat in in the room with her just yesterday and Marie's kissing her and I'm there ministering to her and talking to her and you want to know something when we walked in what she said her husband's there very dear to us her husband's there they've been married over 30 years she's going to go to heaven and a husband is watching a wife ready to to move on that's tough if you haven't gone through that I have yet to go through something as deeply personal as seeing my wife go to heaven but we haven't gone through that that's a heavy thing and you know what she said when we walked in forgive me for repeating this but she said my two favorite people in the world are here to see me and I'm looking at somebody who's who's about to go to heaven and the first thing she says to Marie and me is that we're her favorite people and I was talking to my wife on the way home that's what matters that's what matters in life guys not what you drive not what you wear not the nice restaurants those are all good should he bless you to be able to do that no condemnation please don't misunderstand me but I know that those aren't the things that make you who you are those are not the things that make you who you are who you are is determined by your relationship with him and his flowing through you and his abundant life you discover you discover that it's relationship you discover that God is a relational God that within the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is relationship and in relationship there's love because you can't love by yourself you need somebody else to love within the Godhead there's a reality of love for God is love within that my Father Jesus said loves me there is a love within the Godhead that is now in us through the power of the Holy Spirit that we have for God for one another that's how it works and so it doesn't matter what my shoes look like and it doesn't matter what my hair looks like if I don't even have any what matters is him and he says and I'm giving to you an overflowing life an abundant life that comes from relationship with me and a thief only kills only steals only destroys but Jesus says but I give you life and on Thanksgiving when I was sitting there looking at my ugly little family and I went today to go see my ugly little grandson Jackson that's life that's life to hold this little baby in my hands to look at him and then to look at my baby girl who blessed her husband and me with a child that I can look at and say God you're good now that's life that's life that matters and that's what Jesus gives to us relational yeah he blesses us oh thank you Jesus for blessing us amen thank you Lord you gave us room and it's so cold outside you gave us a roof that keeps the rain off of us you gave us a car to be able to drive here Lord we were able to eat today thank you hot water I can shower in thank you we got a lot to be grateful for and it all comes from him but the abundant life it's knowing you're going to heaven and knowing that he will never leave you nor forsake you it's knowing that when you cry by yourself because you've been hurt so deeply that he has a container that he catches your tears in his vial and he doesn't forget your pain and he goes before you he knows you by name he loves you and he heals your broken heart that's our Jesus that's our Jesus it's much more the material possessions it's relationship you're never alone don't forget that you are never alone he is always with you I will never never never forsake you Jesus said and for that I'm grateful