I AM the Good Shepherd

Amen. We have come to the fifth great I am statement of the Lord Jesus Christ where he says, verse 11, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. All right, there it is. I am the good shepherd. I would say that one of the most vivid metaphors used in the Bible to describe the relationship between Christ and his church would be this metaphor.

The shepherd and his sheep. Beautiful image, isn't it? Maybe second only to the profound intimacy that is conveyed by the image of Christ and his bride, which is another metaphor, isn't it?

We are the bride of Christ, but we are also the sheep of his pasture, aren't we? Because he is the good shepherd.

And I would say again that that is a beautiful image, isn't it? A shepherd and a sheep. Now, to really appreciate that image, though, we need to know just a little bit about shepherding.

That is shepherding as it was done back in Jesus' day and also still done today in some parts of the world. And so knowing just a little bit about shepherding will help us, I think, get the full impact of this image.

And in John chapter 10, Jesus opens our eyes just a little bit to this most picturesque of ancient professions.

Shepherding. And so we're going to refer not only to what Jesus says here in this text as we go along with the message this morning, but I'm also going to bring into play some of the background information about shepherding.

And so we'll put all that together and understand a little bit about shepherding and make the connection, of course, and most importantly, with what Jesus teaches us here in John chapter 10.

Now, to remind us a little bit about what we considered last Sunday, and the reason why we need to do that is because, as I said last Sunday, and I'll say again, the two great I am statements where Jesus says, I am the door and I am the shepherd, those two statements go together.

They belong together, not only because they are found in the same chapter in the Bible, but they go together because of the image, what is being pictured here in regard to Jesus and our salvation.

And so last Sunday, we looked at verse 9 of this chapter where Jesus said, I am the door. And we said, first of all, that the door that Jesus is, the door into the sheepfold.

Do you remember? Into the sheepfold. We found that in verse 1 of chapter 10, if you would look at that one more time, where Jesus said, most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door.

So he introduces this idea of a door right at the beginning of the chapter. And so Jesus is the door into the sheepfold.

That is, he is the Messiah. He is the real Messiah. And the sheepfold, as I explained last Sunday, is the nation Israel. And Jesus is the true Messiah, the true shepherd who entered Israel through the door on a number of accounts, but primarily because he was born a Jew.

So he entered through the door. But as we know, they rejected him. Rejected Jesus as their shepherd. Rejected him as their Messiah.

And so because Israel rejected him, the true Messiah, he is, second of all, the door of the sheep. And that's what we see there in verse 7.

Point that out to you once again. Verse 7. And then Jesus said unto them, or said to them again, most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

There it is. So he is the door of the sheep. He's the door of the sheep. Whose sheep, by the way? His sheep. His sheep.

His beloved sheep. His true sheep. Those who believe in him. And he is calling them out of the sheepfold. Remember I referred you back to John chapter 9.

And the blind man who was a Jew and was healed. And Israel rejected him, kicked him out. And Jesus called him out, really. And so he is the door of the sheep.

And that makes him finally and most significantly the door of salvation. Verse 9. Look at that again. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

So he is the door of the sheep. Jesus boldly declared. By me, he said. Literally, by me and no one else. He will be saved.

By me. All right. So he is then the one door. The one door. Now I said last Sunday, if I might remind you, that there are three important truths in John chapter 10.

That help us see Jesus and our salvation. Help us in our consideration of that. And I've just reviewed the one thing. And that is the one door.

All right. But not only the one door. But now secondly, we're going to see this morning the one shepherd. The one shepherd. And Jesus is the one shepherd.

Jesus is the one door. Jesus is the one shepherd. And twice in John chapter 10. Jesus says it. First in verse 11. We looked at that a moment ago. And again in verse 14.

He repeats it. He says, I am the good shepherd. Now what does that mean to us? How important is that to us? Well, it means at least four things that we're going to focus on this morning.

Four things. In the first place, it speaks here of the sacrificial ministry of the shepherd. The sacrificial ministry of the shepherd. Now I would have you look at verse 11.

And let's just read a few verses here. Where Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling.

Do you see that there? Verse 12. A hireling. He who is not the shepherd. One who does not own the sheep. Sees the wolf coming.

And leaves the sheep. And flees. And the wolf catches the sheep. And scatters them. The hireling. Verse 13. The hireling flees because he is a hireling.

And does not care about the sheep. Now you might remember there in the first part of chapter 10. That Jesus speaks of a doorkeeper. And I explained last week about the doorkeeper.

The doorkeeper is someone who is not the shepherd. The doorkeeper is someone who has been hired by the shepherd. Or a group of shepherds. And the doorkeeper stays there at the door of the sheep fold.

That enclosure where the sheep are bedded down for the night so to speak. And so the doorkeeper stays there and guards the sheep. Sometimes a doorkeeper. Or not a doorkeeper. But a hireling.

That is what he would be. A hireling would be hired not only to keep the sheep at night. But sometimes to go out into the pasture. And keep the sheep out there as well. And so the doorkeeper is a hireling.

A hireling. And Jesus speaks of a hireling here. And so according to what Jesus says. Often or sometimes the hireling. When the hireling sees the wolves coming.

What does the hireling do? He flees. And why does he flee? Well because he is not the shepherd. And because he does not own the sheep.

And the hireling flees when the wolves are coming. Because he is not the shepherd. He doesn't own the sheep. And he does not care about the sheep. That is what Jesus says here in verses 12 and 13.

That is the implication. But now directly Jesus is saying here in verses 12 and 13. That he is not a hireling. That is the significant thing to draw from this text.

He is not a hireling. And so Jesus you see. Does not flee when the wolves are coming. And why does he not flee when the wolves are coming?

Well it is very simple. He does not flee because he is the shepherd. And because he owns the sheep. And because he cares about or loves the sheep.

Isn't that pretty clear from verses 12 and 13? And how do we know that about Jesus? Because he gives his life for the sheep.

The sacrificial ministry of the shepherd. Now of course Jesus did not go out and sacrifice his life fighting against real wolves.

That is I mean the ferocious animal kind of wolves. We're not to understand that in a literal sense. And so what kind of wolves did Jesus protect his sheep from?

What kind of wolves? Well I think we could probably identify at least three. Three major wolves that are attacking the sheep.

And those three major wolves I would identify as sin, death, and judgment. Those three. Sin, death, and judgment.

You remember John the Baptist pointed to Jesus. There in John chapter 1 verse 29. When John the Baptist was out there baptizing in the river Jordan. And he looked up and he saw Jesus coming.

And he points to him and he says of him. He says behold the Lamb of God. Which taketh away the sin of the world. That's why he came to die.

That's why the shepherd sacrificed his life. That's the sacrificial ministry of the shepherd. And so when he sees the wolf of sin coming. He lays his life down for the sheep.

Sin we're talking about here. Sin is a ravenous wolf. Sin is what cuts us off. Cuts the sheep off from the love of God.

Sin is a ravenous wolf. And relationship with God. And Jesus came into the world. To draw the wolf of sin off of his sheep. And onto himself.

He, the shepherd, dies for the sheep. The sacrificial ministry of the shepherd. But not only the wolf of sin.

But there is the wolf of death. And judgment. Death and judgment. Now, don't you know how vicious those wolves are?

Death is a destroyer. A destroyer. It is the result of sin. And death attacks and destroys everyone indiscriminately.

Great and small. Rich and poor. Men and women. Boys and girls. People of every race. And of every creed.

The gaping jaws of death seem never to be satisfied. And after death comes what? Judgment.

Judgment. The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die. And after that what? Judgment. Judgment. The judgment. Listen, most people you meet today. Well, maybe not most.

Because we would meet a lot of very religious people. Have different ideas about death. And what comes after that. But a lot of people you would meet today have the wrong idea. Well, many have the wrong idea about death.

For some, they think death is simply the end of life. That's all death is. Just simply the end of it. Death comes. Death comes. Death comes. And after that, nothing.

I've met some people just like that. Who have that belief. That set of beliefs. At least that's what they claim to believe. Death's just the end of it. But according to death. To the Bible, rather.

Death not only ends man's physical life. But death also ends man's plans in life. But more importantly, death is what ushers a man into the presence of God.

Issues a man or ushers a man into the courtroom of God. To stand before God, before the God whose blessings man has squandered.

Whose laws man has broken. To stand before the God whose salvation man has refused.

Whose glory man has despised. That's what comes after death, you see. Remember Romans chapter 3 verse 23. For all have sinned.

That is broken God's laws. And fall short of the glory of God. Despise the glory of God. But see, now we're talking about the shepherd. And praise God for the good shepherd.

Who sees the wolves of sin, death and judgment. And in behalf of his beloved sheep. With his life, he destroys those wolves.

Jesus said in John chapter 5 verse 24. Most assuredly I say to you. He who hears my word and believes in him who sent me. Has everlasting life. And shall not come into judgment.

But has passed from death into life. Now just think about it in these terms. Using the metaphor of the shepherd and the sheep. And his sheep. Our good shepherd saw the wolves coming.

And he went out to meet them head on. And drew them off of the flock. To his cross. And he did battle with these vicious wolves.

And he won. That's how we ought to conceptualize it. That's in reality what took place. And by the way. His victory over the wolves was complete.

Complete. That is he took away. Forever took away. Their power. So that they could never ever again. Destroy his sheep. Praise God.

Praise the good shepherd. That's the sacrificial ministry of the shepherd. Now you and I know. Or should know. That that's not the end of the story. Because that was not the end of the shepherd.

Was it? That he died for the sheep. The story gratefully does not end with a mangled shepherd lying there dead among three destroyed wolves.

And so then the flock is just scattered and thirsting and starving somewhere out in the desert. And we know that from verses 17 and 18. Look at it.

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. You see. The battle between the good shepherd and the three wolves of sin, death and judgment was not a draw.

It wasn't a draw. It wasn't even Stephen. Because for me. And I hope you can have and do have this same testimony. For me. One of the shepherd's sheep.

For me. Sin, death and judgment will forever be defeated enemies. Because the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus lives.

Jesus lives. Now that's basic Christianity, isn't it? It really is. Christianity 101. So let's go just a little bit deeper. And see not only the sacrificial ministry of the shepherd.

But let's see secondly. The soul mastery. Of the good shepherd. The soul mastery of the good shepherd. Because you see.

The sheep have become the personal possession. Of the good shepherd. Look at verse 14. Here in John chapter 10.

I am the good shepherd. And I know my sheep. And am known by my own.

You just can't miss those possessive pronouns. You see, listen. David said in Psalm 23.

We read it a moment ago in our worship time. He said the Lord is what? My shepherd. My shepherd. You know what that means?

That means you and I. If you have been born again. You can say the Lord is my shepherd. Just like David said. And you can say by that. That I am one of the shepherd's personal sheep.

I am. Of his flock. It's a beautiful, beautiful picture. But what does that mean? What does it mean to me?

What does that mean to you? When I know that I am one of the shepherd's personal sheep. His personal possessions. What does that mean to me? Well, it means quite a few things actually.

It means in the first place. That he chose me. He chose me. I did not choose him. He chose me.

And what a humbling reality that is. What a worship worthy reality that is. To know that God chose me. A weak.

Wayward. Rebellious. Sinning. Sheep. By the way, I might remind you that.

Though the picture is beautiful. Of a shepherd and his sheep. To be a sheep is not really. A very pretty picture. Have you ever been around sheep?

We have some here. Rachel. And others. They're pretty smelly things, aren't they? And wayward.

Unless they're very well trained. Rachel's are. Even then, I'm sure she would attest to the fact that they're just prone to wander. Smelly, stinky animals.

That doesn't even get close to. To portraying the reality of what I am apart from Christ. And was apart from him. God chose me.

Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3. You can turn to it if you want. I'm going to go ahead and read it. Ephesians 1 verse 3. Paul wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. That we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself. According to the good pleasure of his will. To the praise of the glory of his grace.

By which he made us accepted in the beloved. What a passage of scripture. Boy, would I like to camp out there a while. But we need to go on.

To be a sheep of his pasture. Of his flock. Means not only that he chose me. But that he bought me. That he bought me.

Paul asked the question. 1 Corinthians 6.19. He said, Don't you know? That you've been bought with a price. Therefore you're not your own.

And then Peter tells us what the price was. Not silver or gold. Or any such thing on this planet. That might be of infinite value. In fact, if we could accumulate all the gold and silver.

And diamonds and rubies. And precious gems. And metals of this world. We could get all of them together. The price would not be enough to pay.

And so Jesus paid with his blood. The precious blood of a lamb. Of Jesus. As of a lamb without spot or without blemish. And so he bought us.

We're talking about the soul mastery of the good shepherd. He chose me. He bought me. And third. He cares for me.

And this is where we come back to the image of the shepherd. He cares for me. And we need to know a little bit about shepherding here.

And I think it would help us understand it. You see, shepherding in Jesus' day was not a high-tech thing. In fact, in many parts of the world today. In the Middle East particularly. You can go there and see shepherds tending their flocks.

Just like they did back in Jesus' day. And it's not high-tech. As a matter of fact, basically the shepherd had two tools. That he used to take care of his sheep.

The Bible tells us about them. David mentions them in Psalm 23. The shepherd had the rod. And he had a staff.

Basically those two tools. And the shepherd used these two tools. To guide, protect, care for his sheep.

You remember what David said in Psalm 23? He ought to. We read it just a moment ago. He said, the Lord is my shepherd. And then a little later, speaking to the shepherd directly.

He said, you care for me. Your rod and your staff. They comfort me. The rod and the staff.

The shepherd used a rod to care for his sheep. That's rather interesting when you discover what this rod was. The shepherd would make the rod himself.

And what he would do, he would go out and find a small tree. A small sapling. And he would cut it off about two to three feet above the ground.

And then he would dig out the roots. Dig it right out of the ground so that you had this stick about so long with just this wad of roots on the end of it.

And then he would trim away all of the roots until he had a kind of a knob on the end of that stick about the size of his fist.

Sometimes they would put pieces of metal in it. And sometimes would drive rocks and such to make the end of that rod real heavy.

What did he use it for? Well, it became a tool. In fact, it became primarily a weapon. A weapon. We might call it a club.

It might look like a club to us. And that was his rod. And the shepherd's rod was symbolic of the word of God.

The rod of God. And the shepherd used that rod, his rod, to do a number of things for his sheep, to care for his sheep. He used the rod to protect his sheep.

First and foremost. The shepherd, you see, he would be out there in the field, you know, day in and day out and had a lot of time on his hands. And he did a lot of things. And one thing he would do would be to take that rod and he would throw it at certain objects.

And he would practice throwing it. It became kind of a missile out of his hand. And he got very proficient at that. And so then when the wolf came or a bear or some other kind of wild animal that might threaten the sheep, he was just very proficient at throwing that rod and either chasing the wolf off.

Sometimes he could even kill the animal with it. To protect his sheep. Sometimes he would take the rod and hit his own sheep. Not to harm them, but when a sheep was getting away from the flock, maybe getting off by himself, and maybe he was coming close to maybe a crevice that he might fall into or a hole or some cliff that he might fall off of.

And so the shepherd was very proficient at throwing that rod and hitting the sheep just in the right way or hitting right beside it to direct the sheep back to the flock. It was just an interesting tool that the shepherd had that he could use to protect his sheep.

Now, remember, the rod represents the Word of God for us. And in a similar way, the rod of God protects us.

Remember when Jesus was tempted by Satan? What was the tool that Jesus used to defeat Satan?

It was the Word of God. With each temptation, Jesus would say, It is written. It is written. It is written.

He used the Word of God, you see. But also, the shepherd used the rod not only to protect the sheep, but also to examine the sheep.

It is rather interesting. At night, when the shepherd would bring the sheep back to the fold and lead them in through the opening there, and he would be counting them one by one and naming them, you know, calling them by name, he would also be examining them.

And he took the rod and he would lay it over the opening just high enough so that when the sheep passed by, that rod would just brush across their back and would kind of divide the wool so that the shepherd could look down under the wool and see the skin of the sheep.

It was called passing under the rod. Pretty creative way of describing it. It's called it. Well, in the Hebrew, they might have had something more imaginative.

I don't know. They passed under the rod. And so the sheep, the shepherd could look under the wool and see what could not be seen normally. And the shepherd could identify sores.

Some skin ailments, maybe bugs or parasites or something that might threaten the well-being of the sheep. And so he would pass the sheep under the rod.

And so the rod became a tool to examine. And it's the same way with God's word and the sheep of God's pasture.

We, too, pass under the rod. Pardon the pun, but you'll never pull the wool over God's eyes. Never. We might be able to pull it over everybody else's eyes.

In fact, we're pretty good at pulling it over our own eyes so that we will not admit or even identify sin in our own lives. And we can kind of hide that from others and from ourselves.

But you can't hide it from the good shepherd. Because he examines. He knows what is deep inside the hearts and lives of his beloved sheep. His word probes and examines and it reveals what is there.

What is really there. Psalm 139, verse 23. One of my life passages. Search me, O God. Search me. And know my heart.

Try me. And know my thoughts. My anxious thoughts, literally. And see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

That's the rod of God that accomplishes that. Also, the shepherd's rod was used not only to protect and examine the sheep, but also to discipline the sheep.

Now, you're going to find this quite strange. You know, sheep, as I mentioned a moment ago, tend to stray. Don't they? They really do.

And every sheep has that tendency. To kind of get away from the shepherd. It's just the nature of sheep. Prone to wander.

Wander. Lord, I feel it. It's the nature of sheep. But now, sometimes or some sheep will fall into a pattern of straying. That is, they just continue to get away from the shepherd.

Constantly getting away from the shepherd. And so, what does the shepherd do? Well, I'm told that at this point, the shepherd does something very drastic. The shepherd will take that sheep that is prone to wander, that keeps getting away from the shepherd.

They're just a chronic strayer. Will take that sheep and pick that sheep up. Cradle it in his arms. And he'll take one of its legs and stretch that leg out.

And then he'll take that rod, that club. And he'll whack the leg of that sheep. And break its leg. Literally.

Break it. And then he will bind it up. I don't know if he uses a splint or something or cloth or binds it up. Now, the sheep can't walk.

And so, what does the shepherd do? The shepherd carries the sheep. We've seen those pictures where the sheep is on the shoulders of a shepherd. And he is leading his flock.

And there's that one sheep on his shoulders. Beautiful picture, isn't it? In reality, it's quite possible that that sheep the shepherd is carrying is under his discipline.

He's broken his leg. And the sheep cannot walk. And the shepherd will continue to carry the sheep until the leg mends.

And the sheep can walk for itself. And then he puts the sheep down. And, you know, something strange happens at that point. That sheep, from then on, stays right next to the shepherd.

Right there. For the rest of his life. He'll never stray again. In fact, there has developed a very close and intimate relationship with the shepherd.

And it is the same for God's sheep. You might remember David said in Psalm 119, verse 67, Before I was afflicted, I went astray.

The implication being, I went astray and God afflicted me. See, if you're one of the shepherd's sheep, then the shepherd will allow you to stray just so long and just so far before he is forced to take drastic measures.

And that's what God does. And that's not a bad thing. Doesn't mean we have to stray or that we ought to try to stray so that we have something good or bad happen to us for something good to happen.

It's not that at all. But for God to afflict us when we stray is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. In fact, David said again in Psalm 119, verse 71, He said, It's good for me that I have been afflicted.

Why, David? He said, That I might learn thy word. But now, the shepherd had another very effective tool, not only the rod, but he also had a staff.

And the shepherd's staff was used to care for his sheep, also used to guide his sheep, and so forth. And the shepherd's staff was also made out of a tree.

This time, the shepherd would find just the right size, a little small sapling, and he would cut it off right at the ground. And then he'd trim all the limbs off of it so he had a staff or a long stick, so to speak, taller than the shepherd, usually seven, eight feet high, maybe even higher, and then oftentimes the shepherd would craft it so that it had a hook in the end of it.

A shepherd's crook. We've seen pictures of those. In fact, that's how we identify shepherds, isn't it, usually? They're carrying the shepherd's crook or the staff.

Now, the hook was not just there to be picturesque for us, you know, very pastoral, and so that when we look at those pictures, we think, oh, isn't this neat, the shepherd with his crook.

It was something there for a very practical reason. And the shepherd would use that staff to guide his sheep, to draw his sheep into the flock and unto himself.

He would use that staff to lift up the sheep when the sheep became entangled or trapped some way.

Now, just as the rod is symbolic of the Word of God, I believe in this case the staff is symbolic of the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God.

See, the Spirit of God guides his sheep. The Spirit of God guides us. See, typically the shepherd would place the end of his staff right on the side of the sheep, just kind of nudging, just kind of tapping the side.

And you can just kind of picture this. Here's the shepherd walking along, and all of his flock is around him, and he's guiding them a certain direction, and sheep always have to have a leader.

And so he would just reach that staff out there and just kind of tap or lay the staff to the side of the sheep so that he could guide them on the right path, and maybe he would tap them one way to go on a different path, a new path.

And sometimes he would take the staff, they say, and just lay it against the side of one of his sheep and just kind of walk along with that staff, laying against the side of the sheep.

It's kind of a connection between the shepherd and the sheep, kind of an intimacy, kind of like walking hand in hand. It's the staff that would guide.

It's that way with us. The Bible says in John 16, 13, when he, the Spirit of truth, that's the Holy Spirit, has come, he will guide you into all truth.

He will show you things to come. Then also the shepherd's staff, being the Spirit of God, representing the Spirit of God, also not only guides the sheep but draws, draws the sheep.

To draw the sheep to the shepherd. To draw the sheep into the flock. The shepherd would use his staff to pull the sheep together.

He might just reach out there and grab one of the sheep with that hook and pull it in. Maybe over here and pull it in. Maybe there's a sheep out over here, way from the flock, and he reaches over there and grabs that sheep and pulls that sheep right into the flock with the crook and the staff.

It's kind of a very practical tool, isn't it? And sometimes he would use the staff to grab a sheep that may have maybe fell down into a crevice or some kind of hole in the ground or maybe some little canyon or little ditch.

And so he would not only use the staff to draw the sheep but also to lift up the sheep. He used it for all these tools to guide and to draw and to lift up.

And the Holy Spirit does these things. In the first place, the Holy Spirit is the comforter, the Bible says. And he draws us to the shepherd and also draws us to one another.

And he brings us into the fellowship of the flock. And the Holy Spirit also lifts us up. David wrote in Psalm 40, verse 1, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps.

I just love that verse. What a good shepherd. He's the good shepherd. His rod and his staff, they comfort me or they care for me. And so we have the sacrificial ministry of the shepherd.

And we have the soul mastery of the good shepherd. And so his ministry is the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. His mastery, my sheep, he says, hear my voice.

And I know them. And they follow me. And then third, we have the sovereign mission of the good shepherd. The sovereign mission.

Remember, I said there are three things in this chapter to learn or help us learn something about our salvation. Vital truth about our salvation.

There are three things. First, one door. There is one door. Salvation and it's Jesus. That's pretty basic, isn't it?

Second, one shepherd. That's what we've been talking about now for the last 30 minutes. One shepherd. That's Jesus too. All right. Third, one flock.

One flock. Now we know the one door is Jesus. And we know the one shepherd is Jesus. Who is the one flock? Well, it is the one flock that represents the sovereign mission of the Lord Jesus Christ.

See, the good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep. The good shepherd took up again his life for the sheep. And the good shepherd did these things not just to have an intimate and personal relationship with the sheep.

It certainly is that. But he did all those things because the good shepherd has a worldwide mission to fulfill. Look at verse 16. 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. One flock. One shepherd. Now folks. Learn this this morning.

In the first place, obviously, the one flock. The flock. Refers to the Gentiles. Other sheep. Refers to Gentiles.

They are not of the fold. Who's the fold? The nation Israel. Gentiles are not of the fold.

But notice here in this verse that I read a moment ago, verse 17. That there is the word fold there. One fold. And notice there is the word flock there.

Do you see that? One flock. So one fold. One flock. Now we're still talking about sheep. But there's one fold.

One flock. And those words represent two different words in the Greek language. And they're translated differently as well.

Though they may seem to be similar. And in some respects, the words are similar. Because both represent groups of sheep. Okay? A fold and a flock.

But they're different. And in a very real sense, there's a world of difference between the two. The fold and a flock.

Both practically as well as theologically. A fold is defined by its circumference.

I mentioned that last Sunday. That is, it's defined by the wall. That's what a fold looked like. It was a walled enclosure. Remember?

And the shepherds would bring their sheep in at night. In through the door. Into the fold. It's defined by its circumference. Its wall.

A flock. Is defined by its center.

It's defined by the shepherd. You see the difference? Just visually. Just in a practical sense. A fold is defined by the wall.

By its circumference. The flock is defined by its center. The shepherd. Now, let's make the application. The fold, again, is Israel.

Right? It's Israel. Defined by its circumference. That is, in this sense. It's defined by race. By its race.

By its religion. A well-defined group of people. It's defined by its circumference. And the shepherd, of course, is Jesus. There's no question about that.

But what about the flock? Well. What does the flock represent? It certainly does represent.

To an extent. The lost sheep of Israel. Whom Jesus. When he came. He led out of the fold. The blind man in John chapter 9. Is an example.

Representative of that. Jesus' apostles. Would be representative of that. Jesus came for the lost sheep of Israel. And so. The flock does represent.

The lost sheep of Israel. Whom Jesus led out of the fold. Represents that. Certainly. But also. It includes.

And. More significantly. The lost. Sheep. Of the Gentiles. The Gentiles.

Whom Jesus. Is leading. Into. His flock. From every tribe. And nation. And peoples. On the earth. Now both are being led.

Into. The flock. Primarily. Though Gentiles. To make one flock. One flock.

The church. See. The church. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. Defined by circumference. No. Not.

Not defined by its circumference. Like one race. One religion. Or religious practice. It's defined by its center.

The shepherd. The shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's what defines.

The church. And this is the sovereign mission. Of the good shepherd. That's his mission. He started out. With. Eleven faithful men.

You say. Why not twelve? Well Judas was the son of perdition. So he started out with eleven. It grew to one hundred and twenty. It grew beyond that. And on the day of Pentecost. Thousands were added to the flock.

And then along come late. Comes later. Paul. Whose ministry is to bring the gospel. To the Gentiles. And. Thousands. And thousands. Of Gentiles. Are. Are.

Are. Are. Called out. And. Drawn into the flock. The church. And now. Two thousand years later.

He has millions. And millions. Of sheep. In his flock. And he's added to. Adding to the number. Every day. Listen to me.

The good shepherd. Will not fail. In bringing. Every single one. Of his sheep. Into the flock. He will not fail. Verse sixteen.

Look at it again. Another sheep I have. Which are not of this fold. That's Gentiles. Them. Also. I must bring. And they will.

Hear my voice. And there will be. One. Flock. And one. Shepherd. That's the church. The sovereign mission.

Of the good shepherd. One more. The securing. Might. Of the good shepherd. The securing.

Might. Of the good shepherd. Look at verse twenty. Seven. My sheep. Hear my voice. And I know them. And they follow me. And I give them.

Eternal life. And they shall. Never. Perish. Never. Hopefully never.

No. Never. Never. Perish. Neither shall. Anyone. Literally. Any. Anything. Anyone. Anything. Snatch them.

Out of my. Hand. My father. Who has given them. To me. Is greater than all. And no one. Literally. No.

Thing. No one. No thing. Not anything. Can snatch them. Is able to snatch them. Out of my father's hand. I and my father. Are one. I think.

It's been. Graphically. Illustrated. By. The hands. Of God. The father. And God. The son. And. He has drawn his sheep.

Out. And. And he. Puts them. In his hand. And no one. Is able to snatch. No thing. Is able to snatch. His sheep. Out of his hand. And.

God. The father's hand. Around. God. The son's hand. To. Hand grip. On his sheep. And nothing. Not anything. Not height.

Or depth. Not anything. Is able to. Separate us. From the love of God. To snatch us. Out of his hand. His sovereign hand.

That's why I call this. The securing. Might. Of the good shepherd. That's the good shepherd. One door. One shepherd.

One flock. And Jesus is still today. Calling. Calling his sheep. Calling.

Calling. And so I ask again. Do you hear his voice? Not my voice. You hear my voice.

I'm not calling. In a sense I am. God is. Gracious. Wonderful to. Use me as an instrument.

As a voice. His voice. Not just me. But you too. But it's Jesus who is calling. He's calling. Do you hear his voice? Do you hear it?

The shepherd. The good shepherd. Today. Just as he was. Back here in John chapter 10. Throughout his ministry.

And on throughout the ministries. Of his apostles. And disciples. As the numbers grew. And through his. His apostle. Called. As a one. Called out of due season.

The apostle Paul. Just as he was calling. Jesus is calling. Good shepherd is calling. His sheep. Do you hear his voice?

Then. Follow him. Follow him.

Out of. The fold. Of sin. Lost. Hopeless. Into his blood.

The clock. The clock. The red carpet. The clock. Thank you.