WEBVTT

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 now can you turn with me in your bibles to john chapter 10 and we're going to read the first 10

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 verses together as we continue to think about the i am sayings that we find in john's gospel here we

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 come to the third one where jesus declares i am the gate for the sheep and so let's hear god's

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 word once again very truly i tell you pharisees anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate

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 but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber the one who enters by the gate is the

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 shepherd of the sheep the gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice

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 he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out when he has brought out all his own

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 he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice but they will never

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 follow a stranger in fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice

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 jesus used this figure of speech but the pharisees did not understand what he was telling them

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 therefore jesus said again very truly i tell you i am the gate for the sheep all who have come before

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 me are thieves and robbers but the sheep have not listened to them i am the gate whoever enters

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 through me will be saved they will come in and go out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal

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 and kill and destroy i have come that they may have life and have it to the full amen

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 let me begin asking a question that perhaps you have asked yourself deliberately or perhaps it's

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 subconscious why are you here today why am i here today um what questions uh do we bring

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 to church today uh to church today now each week i am fairly certain there will be some of us who will

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 come with questions about the christian faith perhaps today the question will be about the the truth

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 claims of jesus and and don't they sound really narrow and exclusive and so we're going to think

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 together about the identity of jesus the uniqueness of jesus and also the welcome and the inclusion that

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 we find in the gospel here in jesus talking about whoever comes to him it will be saved it's not based on

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 background or performance perhaps there are some too who have questions about believing what is being

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 christian all about how do i become a christian and again we'll hear jesus talk about listening to his

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 voice listening to his words and following after him recognizing that he is the only way to god

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 perhaps some of us if we're christians we come with questions about our faith how will this time that

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 we spend together how will this show me more of the glory of jesus how will this help me to live by faith

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 and again we'll hear our shepherd say to us he is the one who knows us and he cares for us and he provides

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 for us and provides life to the full now where does this section fit before we get into it

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 we need to recognize that it's following on from chapter nine in many ways it's a commentary

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 from jesus on what's happened in chapter nine so let me just very briefly fill us in jesus has healed

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 a man who was born blind and that sounds like good news to us instinctively but we find the religious

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 leaders by the end of the chapter abusing him abusing his family and they throw him out of the synagogue

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 because he has faith in jesus and the blind man meets jesus once and then he meets jesus again

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 and as as it becomes clear to the blind man that jesus is the son of man

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 he worships he says lord i believe and he worships jesus and two things become really clear from chapter

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 nine two contrast in a sense and jesus really cares about the blind man and the religious leaders the

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 pharisees they don't jesus cares the pharisees don't and and following on from that jesus is the way into

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 god's kingdom not the way of the pharisees so this contrast is being drawn and jesus then in chapter 10

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 goes on to develop it further and he develops it through the two images of the shepherd and the gate

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 if you're back next week we'll think some more about jesus the good shepherd as he mixes these two

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 images together uh two very simple points for us today first of all you're looking at the first six

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 verses jesus is the shepherd we must listen to jesus the shepherd we must listen to so um he's given us

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 a picture in words of a first century sheepfold in palestine all of his teaching is based around

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 something that the people that were listening to would know very well was a sheepfold like it was a

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 large walled or fenced area it would be shared by a number of different families so they could keep

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 their sheep together so it would be a mixed flock there'd be a watchman who'd be employed

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 to guard the gate to make sure only those shepherds would be allowed in and when the shepherds came

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 they would call out their sheep each day the sheep would recognize they would follow they'd find pasture

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 they'd come back again for safety in the evening

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 um i saw a video um about a sheep farm not in palestine but in norway um and um tourists in this

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 particular region uh of norway could go and visit a sheep farm and they could try and call the sheep

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 so uh the farmer would give them a little bit of a tutorial here's the words to use uh you could see

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 lots of people from different countries trying their best to call these sheep in the far distance that

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 were just happily grazing and but then the shepherd eventually would put them out of their misery

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 would give one word and the sheep would come running and jesus understands this setting

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 and so he's going to use this setting to help us understand some important truths

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 one question that we can ask of this is who is authorized to lead god's people so he gives this image

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 that there are some people who come into the flock and they're thieves and robbers and there's one who is

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 the shepherd so who is authorized to lead god's people and what's clear is it's not the pharisees

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 now we've seen them in chapter nine they're they're selfish they're abusive they're all about law and they

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 know nothing of god's grace jesus says i am authorized by god i've been appointed by god to shepherd my

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 flock he is the one who enters by the gate who is the shepherd of the sheep that's why we read ezekiel 34

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 ezekiel 34 where the leaders are condemned as being bad shepherds using abusing not pointing people towards

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 worship and not pointing people back to their god and god gave that promise in ezekiel 34 i will come

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 and i will be their shepherd and i will send my servant king i will send another david and he will be

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 the shepherd god will be shepherd and the servant king would be the shepherd what's jesus saying he's

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 saying i am that shepherd i am god and i am god's promised king and as such i am authorized i have the

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 authority to lead to feed to guide my people back to god another question what's the relationship like

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 between the sheep and the shepherd so in chapter nine we saw an example of when there are bad leaders

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 there's a bad relationship there's there's abuse there's mistrust there's people being pointed away

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 from god's truth not so when the true shepherd comes verse three the gatekeeper opens the gate for

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 him and the sheep listen to his voice he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out when he's

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 brought out all his own he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice

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 so jesus is giving some wonderful truths about himself that he knows his sheep his people

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 individually he knows our hearts and our lives and he calls us individually he speaks to us of his

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 personal care not only is jesus head over the church that's not just local but global but also

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 he knows and loves each one of his own he knows and loves each one of his own he is a shepherd who guides

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 guides by his voice guides by his word guides by his truth that we have in the bible and what of his sheep

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 the sheep know jesus the shepherd in a personal and a living way the sheep listen to the true shepherd

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 they won't follow the thieves and the robbers because they know their bad news they won't listen to a

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 stranger but they will listen to jesus there is trust and obedience the shepherd goes on ahead and the sheep

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 follow so there's a wonderful picture of the life of a church following jesus the good shepherd

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 so jesus is the shepherd we must listen to is his basic point now back to some of the questions that

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 we might have brought with us to church today what about that question of narrowness and jesus is saying

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 a number of times in our passage that you must believe in me to be saved and to have life

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 now we need to remember that when everyone makes a truth claim we are instinctively saying well

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 this is true therefore anything else is false that's not peculiar to jesus that's what we always do when

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 we're talking about truth but we also need to recognize who is speaking we need to remember here

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 is jesus and he has just announced i am god so because of his identity this isn't just any old person

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 speaking this is the one who is declaring i am god the son and i have come as god's promised king

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 and because of his then unique authority

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 he is able to speak and to speak truth and as he does so um he's speaking a loving warning

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 there are false shepherds in his day there are false shepherds and false teaching in every day and jesus

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 sounds a loving warning saying you need to listen to me you need to trust and follow me to to have

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 life and to have salvation

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 and also when we think about the identity of jesus we recognize that that he and he alone has the wisdom

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 to teach us perhaps we can think of it this way if you imagine a great big circle and and this circle

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 represents all the wisdom in all the world now how much of that wisdom do we know

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 maybe we have a small circle maybe we just feel like we have a dot

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 we don't know everything and we cannot claim to know everything but jesus knows the circle because jesus

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 is god and he speaks with the wisdom of god and he says don't trust anyone else you need to listen and

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 you need to follow me so it's a reminder that that question that jesus asked his disciples who do you

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 say i am is so vital for life it's vital to how we consider the bible and the claims of jesus we need

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 to get that right to understand who jesus is if we are to get anything else right

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 what about what does this a little section have to say about the question what is a christian what

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 do i need to do to be a follower of jesus well jesus talks about this two-way knowing doesn't he

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 talks about this living relationship between sheep and shepherd he's saying the shepherd calls to his

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 sheep he calls to us in the gospel this good news that that jesus has come from god to to live among

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 us and to live a life of perfect obedience as our substitute because we fail to keep god's law and

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 so we are sinners and we are sinful and we deserve judgment but jesus has come as our substitute and he

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 has been perfectly obedient and then the gospel also speaks of his death as a sacrifice that jesus

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 in love was willing to take the place of sinners to take the punishment that we deserve so if we trust him

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 our sins might be forgiven and then the gospel also speaks of the resurrection of jesus

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 now that jesus won a victory over the great enemies of satan and sin and death so that whoever believes

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 in him will also know eternal life and so jesus calls to us in the gospel calls to us to believe and

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 and our response is to listen to follow our response as a church is to listen and to follow jesus is the

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 king so i want to submit to him jesus is god who speaks truth so i want to listen and obey

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 now what about the question if we're here as christians we're asking well how how does this help me to see

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 the glory of jesus how is this going to help me in my faith well let me begin with a with a question

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 that that sometimes it gets asked i was asked it this week perhaps sometimes you get asked what

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 what makes a good church what do i look for in a church how do i know if a church is good and safe

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 well think about this this question and think about how it applies to life in a church

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 isn't it crucial that a church that a minister that a preacher points to the lord jesus christ

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 isn't it crucial for a church that that leadership and members of a church live for the glory of the

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 lord jesus christ the mark of a church is do we preach jesus as savior the only savior for sinners do we

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 call people to trust in jesus that's what good church a safe church looks like because it's all about jesus and

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 we need to understand that that's not a given again there were thieves and robbers there were false

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 teachers in jesus day and so there are in our day too but think too about the gift of grace think

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 about the privilege if you're a christian think about our privilege for a moment the privilege to know

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 and to be known by the lord jesus by god our father to have that personal living relationship with god

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 think of the security that we have in belonging to god through faith in jesus safe in god's flaw

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 think about the privilege of being able to recognize that jesus is good news because we know that most

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 people don't recognize jesus is good news that's not something we earn that's all due to god's kindness

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 and in response to god's kindness there is in our little section here a call to us as the church to

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 to grow and to develop in this two-way relationship that we would listen to jesus that we would listen as

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 we gather together as the people of god sunday by sunday we listen as we spend time at home reading the

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 bible we listen as we gather in small groups for discipleship and not just to listen but also to

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 apply that word that it would be evident that we belong to jesus that his word would shape how we

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 approach work and friendship and thoughts about the future and our money and our character

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 because jesus is the shepherd we must listen to so that's the first image verse 7 to 10 gives us a

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 second one where jesus says that he is the gate we must enter through so jesus continuing to speak to

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 the same crowd but there's a slight change in the picture in the first scene i remember there was the the

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 wall and there was the mixed flock and there was the gatekeeper and there was shepherd who comes and

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 calls and leads and in that first picture it's as if god himself was the gatekeeper saying i have chosen

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 my son jesus to be the shepherd for my people listen to him but now the picture changes so still imagine a

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 sheep pen with a wall and a fence but now instead of a mixed flock we're invited to think of a single

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 flock and the focus now is on the gate the gate as the one point of entry the entry point to safety

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 to security to plentiful supply and to true life let me read again verse 7 onwards very truly i tell you

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 i am the gate for the sheep all who have come before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep have not

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 listened to them i am the gate whoever enters through me will be saved they will come in

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 and go out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy i have come that they

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 may have life and have it to the full and so when we were back in sky a couple of weeks ago we visited

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 family friends who have a farm and they had just started keeping some pigs so they had this small

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 herd of pigs in a pen and they'd erected this electrified gateway so when when the sheep there

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 were the sheep pigs when the pigs were in the pen the electric fence the electric gate was on

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 then when the farmer needed to go in or they needed to come out for a while the gate would be switched

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 off now those pigs and i saw this in the short time we were there they needed the gate because if the

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 if the gate was switched off and it was left open those pigs would run a mile and and without the gate

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 i imagine pretty quickly some of those pigs would get lost and some of them might find themselves

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 in danger and then positively because of the the gate they knew a place of safety and they knew a place

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 where they would get food where they would have the care of the pig farmer the gate matters and jesus says

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 i am the gate he says you must enter through me in order to have salvation in order to have life in order

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 to avoid the destruction that jesus warns of because again there's a contrast in verse 10 he talks of the

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 thief who only comes to kill and to steal and to destroy again jesus is thinking back to the pharisees

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 to those bad shepherds what's he saying more widely he's saying anyone who says listen to me

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 my way leads to god my way leads to true life but doesn't make it all about jesus that way ends in

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 destruction jesus saying i and i alone and the gateway to life from god to relationship with god

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 to think of it this way without a gate without jesus the gate if we want to get to god but we don't go

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 through jesus what's going to happen we're going to find ourselves running into a brick wall

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 perhaps we will try morality and religion but we will never get close to god that way

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 jesus speaks against the pharisees who were busy saying keep our rules live our way be like us and

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 jesus saying that's a brick wall it's like death it's destruction any religious system any moral teaching

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 that denies jesus is the son of god he is the lord he's the only savior will lead to disaster

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 there is no entry to god and his grace and his love and his life without jesus

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 we need to recognize i think it forces us to recognize the barrier there is between us and god god is

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 perfectly holy perfectly right and everything he does and who he is and we are not because of our sin

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 we can never by ourselves be good enough we can never match god's perfect standard

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 that barrier wall of sin is not one that we will break through by ourselves that guilt that we

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 know in our hearts in our conscience knowing that all is not well with god we cannot deal with that by

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 ourselves the barrier the separation between us and a holy god is too great

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 so there's good news when jesus says i am the gate jesus says enter through me and you will know

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 salvation jesus says believe in me believe that i am believe that i am god believe that i have been

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 appointed by god to be your shepherd to be your savior to be the way home to life with god and you will

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 have salvation and what's that look like it looks like the barrier of sin and guilt being removed

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 it's the divide between a holy god and unholy people being bridged by jesus the one mediator between god

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 and man that separation that's removed by the cross of christ where jesus takes sin and guilt and punishment for all who

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 trust in him so that we can have to use the language of verse 10 life and life to the fool

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 it's the idea of eternal life now when we hear eternal life we might think in terms of quantity life that goes on

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 and on and on and on and it does so we do have the hope of a quantity of life that never ends as god

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 people but but jesus points to a quality of life life as it is meant to be the life that we were made for

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 life in relationship with god life where we know all is well between us and god because we have asked

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 jesus to be our savior and to forgive our sin all is well because we are enjoying his love all is well

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 because we experience life with him now and we anticipate that perfect life going on forever and all of that

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 is through jesus the gate

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 now again let's go back to our questions is christianity a narrow religion

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 well in one sense we want to say yes it is because it insists that you must i must have faith in jesus

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 that he is the only way to be saved all paths do not lead to god we are not free to say well i think

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 my god is like this we need to listen to the authority of jesus who says truly truly i say to you i am the gate

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 so yes christianity is exclusive in that sense but in another sense christianity is wonderfully wide open

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 what's the promise of verse 9 i am the gate there's the exclusive part the only way in through jesus

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 but then whoever enters through me will be saved

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 whoever doesn't get wider than that and here's what we need to understand that any religion that's based on

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 on effort and merit is always going to be narrow because because it excludes people who are bad and

00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:59.339
 people who are failures you can never get anywhere close that's not how jesus works because with jesus

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 it's grace and that means the door is wide open to you and to me and the only requirement is

00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:12.220
 to know our need is to have humility and to come with faith turning away from sin

00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:20.360
 how does this help us think about the question how do i become a christian well picture that sheep pen

00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:29.059
 once again there's walls there's the place where you need to be and there's the gate and very simply

00:26:29.059 --> 00:26:37.819
 and jesus is saying you need to enter in don't stand on the outside you need to come come to him

00:26:37.819 --> 00:26:49.740
 today do you know jesus is god do you know jesus is the only savior for sinners you need to come to him

00:26:49.740 --> 00:26:57.559
 come admitting your need admitting your sin come believing that his his death on the cross and his

00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:04.939
 resurrection were for you and for your salvation and come to the father through him

00:27:04.940 --> 00:27:17.120
 and then finally how does this help you and me to live as christians how does this show us the glory

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 of our savior well again notice what jesus provides

00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:34.820
 jesus provides verse 9 pasture he feeds us he feeds our soul

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 from his word he gives us supplies of grace by his spirit we have security when we find ourselves in

00:27:46.539 --> 00:27:56.759
 god's flock jesus will never lose any who come to him the father promises that all who come to jesus

00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:59.319
 will be saved

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 and when our faith is in jesus we have true life

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 the way god made us to be

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 by god's grace he has dealt with our sin

00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:23.460
 made it possible for us to come into his presence made it possible for us to call him father made it

00:28:23.460 --> 00:28:27.700
 possible for us to worship together as the people of god

00:28:27.700 --> 00:28:33.960
 so we can enjoy and we can worship

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 jesus is god who has come to shepherd and bring his people home

00:28:43.819 --> 00:28:49.120
 our need then is to listen to him and to be led by him

00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:57.299
 to enjoy life from him and with him and jesus is god who has come as the only way to be saved

00:28:57.299 --> 00:29:07.579
 so our need is to end self-reliance and to enter by jesus the only gateway

00:29:07.579 --> 00:29:12.339
 to eternal life let's pray together

00:29:12.339 --> 00:29:23.039
 lord our god we thank you for these simple but powerful images that jesus has provided

00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:26.959
 thank you for this picture of jesus the shepherd

00:29:26.959 --> 00:29:33.740
 the one who calls his own who knows his sheep by name

00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:39.839
 who leads who cares who gives true life

00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:46.299
 thank you for jesus declaring he is the gate he is the way back

00:29:46.299 --> 00:29:48.299
 to you our god

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 that you by your great mercy have made that way

00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:58.160
 open to us

00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:04.460
 that sinners like us can be saved by trusting in jesus

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 and so we pray that as we come with our questions

00:30:09.800 --> 00:30:15.060
 and we would come to christ and find answers

00:30:15.060 --> 00:30:20.019
 that we would come to him and find rest for our souls

00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:23.240
 that we'd come to him and find joy

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 and know life to the full

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 we pray in jesus name

00:30:28.819 --> 00:30:30.019
 amen

00:30:30.019 --> 00:30:35.420
 now as we close

00:30:35.420 --> 00:30:38.460
 we're going to sing a couple of different songs

00:30:38.460 --> 00:30:41.579
 first of all the hymn i heard the voice of jesus say

00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:44.019
 and then we will close by singing

00:30:44.019 --> 00:30:45.799
 psalm 23

00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:50.440
 so let's stand together for our last couple of items of praise

00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:54.480
 16

00:30:54.480 --> 00:30:54.900
 see you next time

00:30:54.900 --> 00:31:01.980
 thanks

00:31:01.980 --> 00:31:05.500
 thank you

00:31:05.500 --> 00:31:06.380
 uh

00:31:06.380 --> 00:31:12.500
 oh

00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:13.580
 sorry

00:31:13.580 --> 00:31:18.000
 oh