📖 Sermon Title: What Kind Of Sheep Are You? Series

📖 Sermon Title: What Kind of Sheep Are You?

A Prophetic Warning Against Wandering and a Call Back to the Shepherd

📖 Introduction: The Blessing of Having the Lord as Shepherd

It is a blessing right out of the gate to have the Lord as our Shepherd.

Not a hireling who runs at the first sign of trouble.

Not a stranger who uses and discards.

Not a thief who only comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

But the Good Shepherd — the only One who lays down His life for His sheep.

John 10:11 (KJV):

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

Before we can talk about restoration, green pastures, or still waters,

we must first stop and ask ourselves a deeper question:

“Is the Lord truly your Shepherd?”

Because if He’s your Shepherd, then you must be His sheep —

not a goat.

The blessing of Psalms 23 is reserved for those who belong, listen, and follow.

📖 Point 1: Sheep Hear and Follow the Shepherd

John 10:27 (KJV):

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Sheep are known by three undeniable traits:

They hear His voice.

They know His voice.

They follow His voice.

Hearing without following is deception.

Following without hearing is dangerous.

Both are required for true belonging.

If you're not listening… if you're resisting… if you're wandering…

You are not acting like a sheep —

You are living like a goat.

📖 Point 2: Dakar Revelation — Goats Wander; Sheep Stay Close

When I traveled to Dakar, goats were everywhere —

In the roads.

In the markets.

On the beaches.

But something struck me deeply:

I never saw a sheep.

I could hear distant bleating, but I never once saw sheep roaming wild.

The sheep were protected. Covered. Hidden.

The goats moved freely — chasing trash, running into traffic, risking death at every turn.

At first glance, their lives looked free.

But the truth was brutal: freedom without the Shepherd is fatal.

Goats love freedom even when it leads to destruction.

Sheep love the Shepherd even when it limits their movement.

Boundaries are not bondage — they are blessings.

📖 Point 3: Sheep vs. Goats — Heart Posture, Not Just Location

Matthew 25:32–33 (KJV):

“And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.”

The sheep and goats were mixed together — until the separation.

Differences between sheep and goat

Sheep -Trust the Shepherd

Goats -Trust themselves

Sheep- Stay close to the flock

Goats - Wander independently

Sheep- Submit to correction

Goats - Resist and rebel

Sheep Obey the Shepherd

Goats- Follow feelings and flesh

This is not about religious performance.

This is not about appearance.

It is about the posture of your heart.

📖 Point 4: Recognizing the Shepherd’s Voice vs. Strange Voices

John 10:5 (KJV):

“And a stranger will they not follow but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”

There are many voices calling today:

Voices of fear

Voices of pride

Voices of deception

Voices of flesh

Voices of culture

True sheep do not debate with strange voices.

They run.

You can fake the sound.

You can mimic the appearance.

But you cannot fake true surrender to the Shepherd’s voice.

📖 Expanded Revelation: Eve in the Garden — When Sheep Entertain Strangers

God gave Adam the Word directly (Genesis 2:16–17).

Eve received it through Adam’s stewardship.

Then came the stranger:

Genesis 3:1 (KJV):

“Yea, hath God said…?”

Eve didn’t flee. She entertained the stranger.

She added to the Word out of confusion.

Genesis 3:3 (KJV):

“3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

God never said "don't touch."

What God actually said Genesis 2: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God says one thing and a sheep with goat tendencies will hear another.

When you entertain what God never authorized, confusion and compromise creep in.

Eve mistook the stranger’s voice for wisdom — and it cost her everything.

📖 Satan: The Hireling and Master Deceiver

John 10:12–13 (KJV):

“But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd... leaveth the sheep... and the wolf catcheth them…”

Satan shows up like a shepherd — but he’s a hireling.

He uses half-truths.

He appeals to emotions.

He speaks to ego.

He justifies rebellion.

But the sheep — Hallelujah! — know the difference!

📖 Goat Behavior in Scripture

🟥 Adam and Eve

Had the Word, had the presence, chose independence —