We Must Learn from the Lord
The Gospel of John
John 10:19-29
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - March 22, 2017
(Revised November 11, 2019)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to John 10:19, as we think about things we must learn from the Lord.
*Many of us know that the Scripture wasn't originally divided into chapters and verses. The first whole Bible with divided chapters and verses wasn't printed until the mid-1500s. Originally, the New Testament wasn't even divided into sentences. Everything just sort of ran together like a word puzzle.
*Toby has some pictures for you tonight: This is a papyrus fragment of Romans 1:1-7. This is Ephesians 1:1-11, and this is James 1:10-12. (1)
*Well, I sure am glad that somebody decided to divide God's Word into chapters and verses. But if I was doing that, I would have put a chapter break between verses 21 and 22. That's because there is a time break here of about two months. We've gone from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Feast of Dedication.
*This is a good time to remember the interesting way the Holy Spirit highlighted certain periods in the Lord's life. Logically, we might take a week-by-week approach, but God skips over wide swaths of Christ's life to put the spotlight on special periods.
*This makes sense when it comes to things like the birth and death of our Lord. But all the way from John 7:1 to John 10:21, the Apostle focused on the events around this Feast of Tabernacles. That's why it took 20 sermons to cover this two or three-week period in the Lord's ministry. We may not understand why God did that, but His Word is perfect! And I say praise the Lord for the sovereign way He inspired His Word!
*Again, in vs. 21-22 we will finish looking at the Feast of Tabernacles, skip two months, and go to the Feast of Dedication. This Feast was not one of the Feasts commanded by God in the Old Testament, but it is still celebrated as Hanukkah today.
*The Feast of Dedication celebration marks the rededication of the temple in 164 B.C. after the blasphemy and butchery of Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes. We can get a sense of this prideful man in the name he took for himself. "Epiphanes" means "illustrious one" or "god manifest."
*What was his tyranny like? William Barclay explained: "This wicked king was a lover of all things Greek. Antiochus decided that he would eliminate the Jewish religion once and for all. He introduced Greek ways, thoughts, religion and gods into the nation.
*At first, Antiochus tried to do so by peaceful means, but in 170 B.C. he attacked Jerusalem. It was said that 80,000 Jews perished, and 80,000 more were sold into slavery. It became a death penalty offence to have a copy of the Word of God, or to circumcise a child. And mothers who did circumcise their children were crucified with their children hanging round their necks.
*The Temple courts were profaned. The Temple chambers were turned into brothels. Antiochus also took the dreadful step of turning God's great altar of the burnt offering into an altar for the Greek god Zeus. He commanded that swine flesh be offered to the pagan gods on the altar that belonged to the Lord.
*It was then that Judas Maccabaeus and his brother arose to fight their epic fight for freedom. In 164 B.C. the struggle was finally won, and in that year the Temple was cleansed and purified." THAT'S why they started the Feast of the Dedication. It's usually celebrated in December, so John noted that it was winter. (2)
*Here in John 10, we are now only about 4 months from the cross. With this background in mind, let's read vs. 19-30, thinking about things we must learn from the Lord.
MESSAGE:
*Over the last couple of days, I've been thinking about some of my best teachers. There was my 7th grade teacher, Lois Culver Jordan, who also taught my dad in the 7th grade, 30 years before. Then there was Betty Lewis who taught International Relations my Senior year in high school. She lovingly pushed us as hard as she could, and arranged for us to take part in the model United Nations that year in Washington, D.C. Dr. Jon Stubblefield was a great teacher at the seminary over in Shreveport. Every Monday morning for 9 months, Dr. Stubblefield was able to make scribbles like we saw in those pictures come alive for us to worship the Lord.
*Most all of us could say we've had some great teachers. But we know that the greatest teacher of all is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! And in tonight's Scripture the Lord points out some crucial things for us to know.
1. FIRST: THE LORD WANTS US TO KNOW ABOUT THE GREATEST RIFT.
*It's the rift between those who receive the Lord and those who reject the Lord. Verses 19-21 give us an example of this great divide. Here, John wrote:
19. Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.
20. And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?''
21. Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?''
*What sayings caused the division here in vs. 19? It was the wonderful things Jesus said after He miraculously healed a man that had been born blind. It was words like we see in vs. 7-11 where Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not 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 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. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."
*There was a great division among the Jews because of these sayings, and sayings like we see in vs. 14-18 where Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.''
*These are some of the most wonderful sayings anyone can ever hear. But some of the people there stubbornly refused to receive what Christ had said. They rejected Him in the worst way in vs. 20: "Many of them said, 'He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?'''
*Those people had unbridled hatred for goodness and light. They spoke with the same kind of venom often spewed out today by radical Muslims and ultra-leftists in our country. That's the great divide.
*But you don't have to be a hate-filled radical to be on the wrong side of the great divide. All you have to be is someone who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ. Some of the sweetest, nicest people you have ever met are on the wrong side of the great divide.
*We know this is true because of many Scriptures, including what Jesus told Nicodemus back in John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
*The only way to get on the right side of the great divide by believing in Jesus Christ. John Phillips wrote: "Thus the gospel always divides. Its message is one of life unto life, or of death unto death. Whenever the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit drives His plowshare through the audience. Some believe, some do not; and between the two henceforth is a great divide, a great gulf fixed. Every time the gospel is preached, heaven and hell are in the balance, eternal issues are at stake." (3)
*I remember some of the times in my life where I have seen this truth so clearly. The first was in Athens, Georgia during Spring Break in 1974. I was over a year away from trusting in Jesus, but I had been seeking the truth for over a year, and God was definitely working on my heart.
*In 1974, I had gone back to Georgia to see my family and friends, and during a Saturday night of partying with college friends, the talk turned to religion. I remember telling my friends, "Maybe the Christians are right." Their response was instant and overwhelming. They absolutely rejected the message of the cross with great ridicule and passion.
*That is the greatest divide. But God was patiently drawing me to trust in the Lord, and 14 months later, by the grace of God, I was saved by believing in Jesus.
2. THE LORD WANTS US TO KNOW ABOUT THE GREATEST RIFT. HE ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW ABOUT THE GREATEST RESPONSIBILITY.
*This is the responsibility that Jesus took on Himself, and He points us to this responsibility in vs. 22-25. Remember that this was two months later. The unbelieving Jewish rulers still hated Jesus and rejected Him in the strongest way. The words of life that Jesus spoke at the Feast of the Tabernacles had stuck and festered in their hate-filled minds as if only minutes had passed.
22. Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
23. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.
24. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.''
25. Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me."
*When He came into this world, Jesus Christ took on Himself the greatest responsibility of all time. He came in His Heavenly Father's name. He came to proclaim the words of God. He came to do the works of God.
*And Jesus fulfilled His responsibility to the utmost, so on the night before the cross, Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father. And in John 17:1-8, Jesus:
1. . . lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
2. as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
3. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
5. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
6. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
7. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.
8. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me."
*When He came into this world, Jesus took on the greatest responsibility of all. He came to proclaim the words of God. He came to do the works of God. And He came to die on the cross to take the full punishment for all of our sins.
3. JESUS WANTS US TO KNOW ABOUT THE GREATEST RESPONSIBILITY. HE ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW ABOUT THE GREATEST RELATIONSHIP.
*The greatest relationship we can ever have is with God. This is the relationship we receive when we believe in Jesus Christ. And it's like the relationship between a good shepherd and His sheep.
*In vs. 26-27, Jesus was still talking to those men who hated Him, and Jesus said, "But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
*Jesus was now following up on something He said two months earlier at the beginning of this chapter. That's how important this relationship is, and God wants us to know it. In vs. 1-5, Jesus had said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his 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 do not know the voice of strangers.'' Now in 27, Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
*Remember what John Beehler said about the close relationship between the Shepherd and His sheep. Beehler said, "Most owners didn't own a lot of sheep. A flock of 100 was huge. Most flocks were no larger than 10-20. Sheep were like valued pets. The good shepherd knew everything about his sheep. The individual sheep in a flock all look alike to the untrained eye. But a good shepherd can tell them apart because of their markings or peculiar traits."
*A shepherd was explaining this to one of John's friends, and he was surprised by the shepherd's familiarity with each animal. "'See that sheep over there?' he asked. 'Notice how its feet toe in a little. The one behind it walks kind of sideways. The next one has a patch of wool off its back. There's one with a black mark below its eye, while the one closest to us has a small piece torn out of its ear.'
*He knew each one by name. These were not just sheep. They were 'Patch,' 'Limpy,' 'Blackie,' 'Tag,' and 'Nosey.' By day and night, the shepherd lived with them. He was always there for them. You see, a shepherd, in order to know his sheep and care for them, has to live among them. He has to be close to them." (4)
*That's the kind of relationship we get with God when we believe in Jesus. Also notice in vs. 27 that Jesus said: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." If we believe in Jesus, we ought to be following more and more every day. If we believe in Jesus, it's going to make a difference, and people should be able to tell that we're following the Lord.
*It ought to make a difference at work and at home, when we are in a crowd and when we are alone, in what we say and what we do, our actions and our attitudes. All of these things will begin to change as we sheep follow the Good Shepherd. That's just part of the greatness of the relationship we have with God through our Savior Jesus Christ!
4. JESUS WANTS US TO KNOW ABOUT THE GREATEST RELATIONSHIP. AND HE WANTS US TO KNOW THE GREATEST REASSURANCE.
*The Lord want us to be sure about our salvation. He wants us to so sure about His gift of eternal life that He gives us four sure promises in vs. 28-29! Jesus said:
-"I give them eternal life."
-"They shall never perish."
-"Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."
-"And no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
*That's 4 sure promises in just 2 verses! But it's not the only reassurance here, because we also hear about the hands that will hold us. Again in vs. 28-29, Jesus said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
*I never thought of this before, but our one God has four hands! -- Two for the Father and two for the Son! That's okay, because God can have as many hands as He wants! And if you are a Christian, if you have trusted in the Lord, then two of those hands are wrapped around you, right now and forever!
*John Phillips explained: "There is eternal security for the Lord's own sheep. . . There is something magnificent about the picture of Jesus wrapping His omnipotent hand around us, and of the Father wrapping His almighty hand around the Lord's. Thus, we are doubly enclosed in the hands of Christ and God the Father.
*An Old Testament example is that of Noah. When the ark was finished, God shut him in. The storms of judgment fell in all their fury. The windows of heaven were opened. The fountains of the deep were broken up. But Noah was safe. He was in the ark. The waters of judgment fell on the ark, not on Noah. In the same way, Colossians 3:3 tells Christians that our "life is hidden with Christ in God." (5)
CONCLUSION:
*This is the greatest reassurance. And God wants everyone to have it! -- So believe in the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. That will make you one of His sheep! Then follow the Good Shepherd all the days of your life.
And no one is able to snatch us out of their hands! Praise the Lord!
(1) Sources:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Textus-Receptus.html
https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_273.cfm
http://www.earlybible.com/images/p10rom1.jpg
http://www.earlybible.com/images/p46eph1.jpg
http://www.earlybible.com/images/p23jam1.jpg
(2) Sources:
https://www.gotquestions.org/Judas-Maccabeus.html
https://www.gotquestions.org/Antiochus-Epiphanes.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphanes
Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT) - Copyright Statement: These files are public domain. Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. Bibliography Information: Barclay, William. "Commentary on Acts 3:4". "William Barclay's Daily Study Bible". http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/acts-3.html. 1956-1959 - THE CLAIM AND THE PROMISE - John 10:22-28
(3) EXPLORING ACTS by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "Power over situations" - Acts 28:11-31
(4) SermonCentral sermon "Be a Smart Sheep" by John Beehler - John 10:1-10
(5) EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "His Deity in Focus - John 10:22-42
