WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 John chapter 10. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:18.859 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:31.579 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:38.579 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him and they know his voice. 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:44.539 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. 00:00:44.539 --> 00:00:50.539 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 00:00:51.259 --> 00:00:58.619 So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:04.159 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 00:01:04.859 --> 00:01:13.200 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:17.620 Let's pray. Father, thank you for this time together. 00:01:17.740 --> 00:01:21.400 We ask that you would bless this, our meeting, our service together. 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:26.579 We're grateful for another opportunity to be directed towards you, towards your word. 00:01:26.859 --> 00:01:32.600 We pray that you would speak clearly through me, that your church would be edified, that you would be glorified. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:38.000 We love you, Lord God. We commit ourselves to you in this moment. In Christ's name. Amen. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:47.219 How can the true church and true ministry of the gospel be recognized? 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:54.819 How can you really be sure that you are a true sheep and recognize the voice of God himself? 00:01:56.240 --> 00:01:58.359 How are we to draw near to God? 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:04.099 These are some of the questions that might resonate with you or perhaps others that you know. 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:07.420 Questions that perhaps you're unsure of how to answer yourself. 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:13.599 The very questions, though, that Jesus is addressing and answering here in John chapter 10. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:22.400 In John chapter 9, a man born blind was given his sight by Jesus, only to be cast out by the religious authorities. 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:26.460 The very men called to shepherd his soul. 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:42.020 And as this discarded man stands outside of the temple, Jesus steps forward and he denounces these under shepherds, the very men who had thrown him out and calls them what they actually are, thieves and robbers. 00:02:42.700 --> 00:02:48.939 And then Jesus makes a further radical claim when he says, I am the door. 00:02:48.939 --> 00:03:04.500 Now, this whole chapter really is providing a series of observations on sheep farming, not as an end in itself, but as a vehicle to get across the desired message in symbolic ways. 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:07.599 So the message is controlling these symbols that are being used. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:16.159 One commentator notes that these parables, these words of Jesus are actually a divine pastoral to all church leaders. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:28.139 Jesus hears defending his flock and demonstrating his passion for them as he's levying severe warnings and powerful encouragements to those who are hearing his words. 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:36.479 So what we have before us in these nine verses is a mixture of metaphor and allegory, saying and parable. 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:44.120 But the common feature in all of these is that there's something enigmatic or cryptic in what Jesus is saying. 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:53.379 And you and I need to be careful that we don't press this allegory parable too far, demanding that everything maps on to something else perfectly. 00:03:54.120 --> 00:04:01.040 Christ is using these symbols to convey various truths about himself, about us and about our shared enemies. 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:10.900 So very simply put, there are two primary things within today's text that there are certainly others, but two that I want to draw your attention to. 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:17.120 And I would summarize them like this test and triumph, test and triumph. 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:21.759 So firstly, then test by way of divine warnings. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:31.439 Jesus's tone is one of open rebuke as he is exposing his and our enemies who are the thieves and robbers. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:37.160 Jesus is speaking to the very shepherds of Israel as he says these words. 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:43.920 He's denouncing these men who have thrown out the healed formerly blind men out of the sheepfold of Judaism. 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:57.279 And Jesus here in his opening verses is teaching that true shepherds, however, distinguish themselves from false ones in the way that they enter the sheepfold by the door. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:04.659 Jesus utilizes this word door in a few different ways in these in these opening nine verses of chapter 10. 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:13.659 Here, though, in the first three to five, he is marking out distinguishing qualifications of faithful shepherds, faithful under shepherds. 00:05:14.419 --> 00:05:19.739 Only the true under shepherds of Christ enter into the ministry by and through Christ. 00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:27.480 These faithful men throughout history hold out Christ, Christ alone to those that are under their care. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:34.340 All of their work is done to the glory of Christ as the one, as the door who has admitted them into the ministry. 00:05:35.400 --> 00:05:41.920 This is the way, says Jesus, to distinguish lawful shepherds from unlawful ones. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:48.259 Is Christ himself the object, the beginning and the end of everything for them? 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:55.220 A true under shepherd does all that he does with an eye to Christ, who is the door. 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:03.100 There seems to be a lot of direct reference here in Jesus's words to several places in the Old Testament. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:07.500 Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34, Zechariah chapter 11. 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:17.879 All of these places throughout the Old Testament where the shepherds of God's people are being condemned for their faithlessness and their self-centeredness. 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:26.339 They are abusing their God-given roles of authority and they have no real regard for the harassed and helpless sheep. 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:30.300 The very sheep whom Jesus has unending compassion for. 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:41.060 Jesus is giving us, his people, a criterion, a standard for discerning who true under shepherds are and aren't. 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.020 And the door is the criterion. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:45.400 The door is the standard. 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:54.340 Jesus, in other words, is saying there is no plague more destructive in the church than wolves disguised as shepherds. 00:06:54.339 --> 00:07:03.439 And throughout the Gospels, and as we've just seen much of the Old Testament, he's levying his most severe rebukes towards false teachers. 00:07:04.159 --> 00:07:11.139 These men that have usurped authority that belongs exclusively to Christ, who isn't just suggesting a better way, 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:17.659 but as the door is claiming and asserting his divine role over the sheepfold of God. 00:07:17.660 --> 00:07:22.939 Do you notice the intimate bond of trust, though, between sheep and shepherd? 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.120 I'm looking at verses 2 and 3 right now. 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:33.440 Faithful shepherds call out their sheep from the common fold by name, and they go before or lead their sheep, 00:07:33.820 --> 00:07:36.240 setting an example in their life and their conduct. 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:40.580 And God's voice is known and heard through them. 00:07:40.579 --> 00:07:49.199 The true church and its true leaders are made known and recognized by whether or not they have entered through the door. 00:07:49.560 --> 00:07:50.240 Jesus Christ. 00:07:51.259 --> 00:07:58.339 The religious leaders of Jesus' time, and indeed countless more from them then to us now, 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:06.360 are sadly more interested in fleecing the sheep than in guiding them and nurturing them, guarding them, providing for them. 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:15.340 Their tendencies and true motives are highlighted in Christ's words as he labels them for what they are, thieves and robbers and strangers. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:18.240 They have climbed in by another way. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.259 They have built their own doors. 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:26.080 Now, our modern culture doesn't really mind the concept of spiritual safety, does it? 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:37.100 But what it insists on is that you and I, is that we build our own doors through achievement, through moral efforts, through self-actualization, even religious ritual. 00:08:39.019 --> 00:08:45.120 This past weekend, I was in an airport one or two times going to and from Aberdeen for Presbytery. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:52.080 And at every point in an airport, as you're trying to get to your gate, you come inevitably to security, don't you? 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:57.200 And you have to pass through a door, a gate. 00:08:57.379 --> 00:09:00.840 You stand in it and they scan you and they're looking for metal or something. 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:04.480 But that is the only way through to your gate. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:19.139 It would be utterly absurd and ridiculous and, well, it wouldn't actually get you through if you were to rock up to the airport with a big cardboard slab that you'd draw on a door on. 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:22.539 And you'd get there to security and you'd go, it's okay, guys, I've got my door here with me. 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:24.700 I'll step through this and proceed to my gate. 00:09:25.180 --> 00:09:27.340 There's one door through to get to your gate. 00:09:27.340 --> 00:09:39.300 And when Jesus is speaking of another way, verses 1 and 8, it shows that these ministers, the ones that he is speaking to, are not centered on Christ. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:44.580 And their thinking or their actions, their teaching, they have constructed their own doors. 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:47.440 They have entered the ministry with self-serving motives. 00:09:48.120 --> 00:09:52.680 And they end up holding out other false doors to those who listen to their voices. 00:09:52.679 --> 00:10:01.120 It shows that the true door is absent in their ministry and thousands of ministers are thus condemned. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:08.159 And so the litmus test to ask in a church context is, where is the door? 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:10.019 Show me the door. 00:10:11.459 --> 00:10:19.139 What motivates these robbers and thieves is not the well-being of the flock, but it is their own desire for profits and gain. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:21.740 They don't have the love of God in their hearts. 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:23.519 They have not received Christ. 00:10:23.659 --> 00:10:26.120 And Moses is ultimately these men's accuser. 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:30.120 For if they had believed in Moses, they would have believed in Jesus. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:32.779 These are Jesus' own words in John chapter 5. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:39.000 Now looking back to verse 3, this speaks to us of the character of a true shepherd. 00:10:39.180 --> 00:10:41.539 One who is a friend to the sheep. 00:10:41.639 --> 00:10:43.200 One who is recognized by them. 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:46.240 The one who knows each sheep, promotes their well-being. 00:10:46.340 --> 00:10:49.720 A shepherd who never leads where he doesn't first go himself. 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:54.300 And these words recall Moses' prayer to God in Numbers 27. 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:58.160 That the Lord would appoint a man over the flock of Israel. 00:10:58.660 --> 00:11:03.779 And he prays, he asks a man who would lead them, bringing them in and leading them out. 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:09.100 That the sheep might have a true shepherd over them as they enter into the promised land. 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:19.960 Jesus appoints for his church faithful ministers who, throughout the centuries, fulfill this prayer of Moses' again and again. 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:35.019 Another element to Jesus' divine warnings and test, remember the first point here, is to note the inability to distinguish between Christ's voice and the voice of a thief and a robber. 00:11:35.700 --> 00:11:39.700 It actually shows that a person is truly dead, not part of the flock. 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:46.720 John himself writes elsewhere in the New Testament that true sheep have the spirit of truth within themselves. 00:11:47.580 --> 00:11:50.680 He says, he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:52.960 We are from God, says John. 00:11:53.100 --> 00:12:03.379 And so even the poorest of sheep has been given the ability to distinguish between Christ's voice and the voice of a thief and a robber and a stranger. 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:10.600 You and I, we must cultivate spiritual discernment through diligent study of God's word. 00:12:11.899 --> 00:12:15.539 The church is to be conformed to the image of Christ. 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:26.120 And we are able to know, or excuse me, the true church is able to be known by and through the godliness of its under shepherds and the soundness of their teaching. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:27.980 Do they hold out Christ as the door? 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:39.139 And as immediate illustrative proof of Jesus's words, you'll notice there in verse six, the leaders of the Jews with whom Jesus speaks directly are unable to understand the same. 00:12:40.539 --> 00:12:44.399 So how can the true church and true ministers of the gospel be recognized? 00:12:45.019 --> 00:12:47.960 They have entered by the door. 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:52.399 Jesus is known to the sheep through the shepherd's speech and life and conduct. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:56.639 And these men hold out the door to the flock and all that they do and say. 00:12:58.100 --> 00:13:01.779 Secondly, then point to triumph, test triumph. 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:07.059 So now we turn to note the absolute centrality of Christ. 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:13.340 While verses one through five served as a contrast between true shepherd and false ones, 00:13:13.439 --> 00:13:19.939 verses seven to nine is now a contrast between false shepherds and the door himself. 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:30.260 We're transitioning here from a qualifying test for under shepherds to Jesus declaring that he himself is the door of salvation for all. 00:13:30.700 --> 00:13:34.420 We're moving from institutional rebukes to salvation and security. 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:38.940 This door is not one of restriction, but of covenant protection. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:46.240 It's a door of relief, guaranteeing rich and ongoing spiritual nourishment, which is our true liberty. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:55.820 So how can how can you and I be sure that we are true sheep, that we that we recognize the voice of God, that how can we draw near to God? 00:13:56.980 --> 00:14:03.180 Well, for those of us who are followers of Christ, how how and when did you become a Christian? 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:04.899 How and why did you become a Christian? 00:14:04.899 --> 00:14:08.199 Christ called you. 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:16.620 Christ called me by name, with his voice, by his spirit and through his ministers, through the church and with the word. 00:14:16.620 --> 00:14:19.639 We have been called out. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:31.799 So weeks ago, before I knew I was preaching this, a video came across my feed of a sheepfold, a really big one with dozens and dozens of sheep off in the distance. 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:39.919 And two people, one by one, step up to the edge of the sheep pen and call out to the sheep, trying to get the sheep to come in to respond to their voice. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:41.779 And absolutely nothing happens. 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:43.340 The sheep just keep munching on their grass. 00:14:43.419 --> 00:14:44.419 They don't even lift their heads. 00:14:44.419 --> 00:14:53.079 And then the third man who steps forward, obviously being the shepherd of this flock, he stands and he calls and he calls. 00:14:53.500 --> 00:15:05.039 And with each subsequent call from the shepherd's voice, you see in the video that the little sheep's popping up their head, stopping their munching on the grass, turning their ears flick up and then some bleeding. 00:15:05.379 --> 00:15:07.539 And then one by one, they start galloping towards. 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:15.819 And all of a sudden you've got this little this wave of tiny white bums just dancing down the down the hill towards the shepherd who was called them. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:19.740 Look again at verses three and four with me. 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:27.360 And we see that the unity that the unity that the true sheep and the true shepherd have is by the presence of the spirit of God. 00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:39.480 God's God's true voice can be known through these lawful under shepherds who have entered by the door and admitted by the gatekeeper, which can be taken to mean the prophetic witness of the scriptures. 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:46.279 Because the Pharisees don't understand, Jesus now strips away any ambiguity that exists. 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:49.920 And he doesn't just say that there is a door to be entered by. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.399 Now he says, I am the door. 00:15:54.120 --> 00:16:03.039 Verses seven and nine, Jesus is repeating and simplifying that true sheep and true shepherds alike must all pass through the door. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:07.899 This speaks of the exclusive mediation of Jesus Christ. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:09.240 Soulless Christus. 00:16:10.079 --> 00:16:13.419 The scene has shifted now in verses seven to nine. 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:17.500 We're out in the countryside as opposed to verses one to five. 00:16:17.579 --> 00:16:18.599 The door is a little bit different. 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:19.719 We were in the village. 00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:21.000 There's a common fold. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:34.019 But at that at that time, shepherds out in the fields when they're calling the sheep in at nighttime, they would have acted as the physical door themselves to the pen that the sheep have been called into. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:44.919 The shepherd would lie down in the entryway and literally become that door so that nothing could get into the sheep or out without having to go through him. 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:51.639 And this expression in and out, you'll notice verse nine in and out. 00:16:51.779 --> 00:16:52.959 This is a Semitic expression. 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:57.399 So it's denoting habitual communion with Christ. 00:16:57.939 --> 00:17:00.899 Whoever enters by Christ has security and enjoyment. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.959 And one's whole life is under the purview of Christ. 00:17:04.619 --> 00:17:06.420 Your goings out and your comings in. 00:17:06.420 --> 00:17:19.820 An encouragement that we're all hopefully seeing here is that Jesus is the one alone who mediates entry into God's family and how a true sheep comes to belong to the sheepfold of God. 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:24.440 Through Christ as the door, we are enabled to draw near to God. 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:43.299 And by calling himself the door in these various ways, Jesus is revealing himself to us as the one whom our relationship with God Almighty has its its point of concentration, both from the side of God, capital S shepherd, and from that of of us, his flock. 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:45.580 It's a it's a double sided coin. 00:17:45.580 --> 00:17:51.259 And yet it all pivots around the exclusivity of Christ alone as the door. 00:17:51.259 --> 00:17:59.579 To find pasture means that your soul stops scavenging in the dirt of worldly approval. 00:18:00.460 --> 00:18:06.019 You're admitted through the Christ as the door as opposed to the doors that you've you've tried constructing. 00:18:06.460 --> 00:18:13.940 We're not just merely protected from ultimate destruction, but we're blessed with intimate care and oversight of the creator of the universe. 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:24.039 So true sheep are perennially safe and find real food and nourishment as they feast at Christ's table prepared before them in the presence of their enemies. 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:30.920 So what does your going in and out and finding pasture mean for you and I this afternoon tomorrow? 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:35.359 It means freedom from anxiety of self-preservation. 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:47.879 When you enter into that hostile work environment or challenging family dynamic, we no longer have to enter into those situations through those flimsy doors that we've tried building ourselves. 00:18:48.699 --> 00:18:57.179 We go out under the watchful eye of Christ, the door who shepherds us, who protects us, and we return to rest in his unshakable peace. 00:18:57.180 --> 00:19:07.660 The psalmist in Psalm chapter 18, I'm going to paraphrase a little bit here, the preceding verses to some very well-known ones. 00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:08.180 But he says, 00:19:08.180 --> 00:19:12.720 The righteous enter through the door of the Lord to give thanks to him. 00:19:13.600 --> 00:19:17.340 We thank him that he has answered our prayers and he has become our salvation. 00:19:18.580 --> 00:19:21.940 Indeed, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:25.480 This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:27.680 This is the day that the Lord has made. 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:29.519 Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:37.900 So in conclusion, false teachers throughout time are addressed and divine warnings are issued. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:38.559 Test. 00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:47.900 Christ presents himself as the door of the Lord through whom alone the righteous enter in and give thanks to the Lord who has become their salvation. 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:59.540 This one who was to be rejected by the false shepherds of his time has become the centerpiece of God's marvelous plan in which we rejoice and are glad. 00:20:00.360 --> 00:20:00.820 Triumph. 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:09.940 He has given us his word and his spirit and the power through them to distinguish his voice and who his true ministers are. 00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:14.820 And for now, this door, the door of Christ is open. 00:20:15.700 --> 00:20:18.380 But it will not always be the case. 00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:22.100 The writer of Hebrews pleads when he says, 00:20:22.100 --> 00:20:27.380 Therefore, while the promise of entering into his rest still stands, take care. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.779 For those who have believed have entered that rest. 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:36.039 Today, says the writer, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:39.579 Let us strive, therefore, to enter that rest. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:43.319 One day, that door will be closed. 00:20:44.139 --> 00:20:44.660 Forever. 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:49.639 So heed the call now to enter into his rest. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:50.680 To be saved. 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:56.500 Don't linger in your examination of the door's construction, its hinges, its frame. 00:20:56.500 --> 00:21:01.500 Step through it and find immediate rest and relief as you're carried across the threshold. 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:10.660 Give up the worthless and fruitless pursuit of seeking to construct your own doors to enter into so that you might stand before God. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:21.299 Take Christ and know the joy and security of his salvation and the blessing of going in and out and finding pasture under his care and protection. 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:24.319 Who alone is the door. 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:26.079 Let's pray. 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:31.480 Father, we thank you for your words to us. 00:21:31.640 --> 00:21:35.720 Once again, we have had this opportunity to pause and to hear you speak to us. 00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:44.980 We are grateful that you, Jesus, are the door, the point of contact, the mediator and redeemer between us and the Father. 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:51.500 And we can come in and out and find pasture under the watchful eye of your care. 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:55.180 We're grateful for this reminder to us this afternoon. 00:21:55.180 --> 00:22:00.060 And we pray that you would fill us with encouragement and send us out in the power of the Spirit. 00:22:00.059 --> 00:22:01.700 Now we ask in Jesus' name. 00:22:01.700 --> 00:22:02.539 Amen.