Latest / #Faith4TodayPodcast / Episode 38 - The Good Shepherd: Hearing His Voice in a Noisy World (John 10)

Transcript

Episode 38 - The Good Shepherd: Hearing His Voice in a Noisy World (John 10) · #Faith4TodayPodcast

• 0:00
  God is always acting from his nature, not according to ours,
• 0:07
  so that's why He can always respond tenderly even when he's
• 0:12
  being correct, if he's acting from His.
• 0:15
  Nature not from from ours. And, and it's true, we do still,
• 0:18
  we still miss the mark or do things that hinder our.
• 0:23
  Union with him. A whole point of the allegory of
• 0:25
  the Good Shepherd, the Shepherd and the sheep, the sheep pen and
• 0:28
  the flock, His union with him to know him and that he would know
• 0:34
  us. That's the whole point.
• 0:36
  I think it's true. The longer I follow God, the
• 0:39
  longer I follow the Good Shepherd Jesus, the
• 0:53
  Welcome to another episode of the Faith for Today podcast.
• 0:56
  My name's Matthew, I'm your host, and I'm really glad you're
• 0:59
  here. We're going to take some time to
• 1:01
  be inspired from the scripture and integrated into a life of
• 1:04
  loyalty to Jesus. That's what we're doing here on
• 1:07
  the Faith for Today podcast. Hey, I want to say thanks to
• 1:10
  those of you who have subscribed, those of you who
• 1:12
  share on social media, following along in this podcast life and
• 1:18
  journey. We really hope this resource is
• 1:21
  a benefit to you, helping add fuel to your everyday loyalty
• 1:27
  and faith in Jesus. Today's episode 38, man, we're
• 1:32
  we're getting closer to that episode 50 Mark, but episode 38
• 1:36
  today we're talking the Good Shepherd John chapter 10.
• 1:40
  I'm going to recap the message, share some bonus content, tell
• 1:43
  you a little bit more, and then we're going to answer and
• 1:47
  respond to some questions that came in, some really, really
• 1:50
  thoughtful questions this week. Here we go.
• 1:53
  Here's the little recap. In John 10, Jesus calls himself
• 1:57
  the Good Shepherd. He's not like the thieves who
• 2:00
  sneak in to take over, the robbers who use force, or the
• 2:04
  hired hands who abandoned when it gets hardened.
• 2:07
  Instead, he is the one who knows his sheep by name.
• 2:11
  He cares for them. He leads them into real,
• 2:13
  abundant life. It's the picture Ezekiel 34 was
• 2:17
  pointing to, where God Himself, Yahweh, steps in to gather his
• 2:22
  scattered people, bind up the broken, and heal the wounded.
• 2:27
  In fact, later on in John 10, Jesus identifies Himself as
• 2:32
  being one with the Father, that He and the Father are one, that
• 2:35
  He is also Yahweh along with the Spirit, and the Father of the
• 2:40
  Son is worshipped in that way. What makes Jesus, the Good
• 2:44
  Shepherd so amazing is that he doesn't just guide us, He
• 2:50
  actually lays down his life for us.
• 2:53
  He's both the shepherd. And the Lamb giving himself so
• 2:56
  he we can belong to God's family.
• 2:59
  His voice is gentle and steady and in a world full of noise,
• 3:03
  calling us into His care and showing us who we really are.
• 3:08
  And when we bring Him our hurts, our fears, or even the toxic
• 3:12
  places of sin that that has left us behind or that we've left
• 3:18
  behind, His presence brings peace and restores our souls.
• 3:22
  The question is, are we listening for His voice or and
• 3:27
  not or but and are we willing to follow where He leads?
• 3:31
  So are we listening and following where He leads?
• 3:35
  It's both a hearing and obeying that Good Shepherd is wanting us
• 3:40
  to engage in so that we can experience his abundant life.
• 3:46
  Now let me share a little bit of bonus content, tell you a little
• 3:49
  bit more around some of these themes.
• 3:52
  And really there's three main things that I want to talk about
• 3:54
  in the bonus content. I want to talk about harmful
• 3:56
  flocks and shepherds. I want to talk about how Jesus
• 4:02
  is making US1 flock and #3 I want to talk about the
• 4:06
  gatekeeper Jesus and talk about the gatekeeper of our hearts and
• 4:11
  our souls as well. So let's the first one is this
• 4:15
  harmful flocks and shepherds. We said that Jesus was unwilling
• 4:19
  to sugarcoat not only our sin, but the harm that happens to us
• 4:23
  and around us. Jesus was willing to name
• 4:28
  threats both visible and invisible.
• 4:31
  What do I mean by that? I think that Jesus is keenly
• 4:34
  aware that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
• 4:36
  He's referring to Satan and contrasting himself as the Son
• 4:40
  of God. And Satan has fallen from God,
• 4:44
  fallen out of the sky, fallen out of union with Christ, and
• 4:48
  that the, the enemy of our souls, the Satan himself, the
• 4:51
  great deceiver wants to come as as he's been talking about in
• 4:54
  John 8 and and John throughout the Gospel of John.
• 4:59
  Like there's this play dark versus light kind of a thing
• 5:02
  that there's the Kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of our God
• 5:06
  and the visible and invisible portion of those things that
• 5:09
  there's an animating force behind the evil that is in our
• 5:13
  world that is done to us and and sometimes the deepest pain the
• 5:17
  most. Heartache that we experience.
• 5:19
  As the people of God can come from within the community of
• 5:24
  God's people here they were Jesus was was contrasting
• 5:29
  thieves, robbers and hired hands and was kind of pinpointing even
• 5:33
  some of the religious leaders, those that were supposed to be
• 5:35
  leading God's people to communion and union and covenant
• 5:40
  with God. They were taking advantage of
• 5:44
  the people of God and there was just conflict and division and
• 5:48
  and, and infighting and God, God wasn't going to call that good.
• 5:53
  He was unwilling to lie about those things.
• 5:56
  Ezekiel 34, which we looked at a little bit in the message, like,
• 6:00
  like God was unwilling to just sugarcoat it.
• 6:03
  He wasn't going to call something it's good.
• 6:05
  Just it'll be fine. No, no, he wasn't ignorant or
• 6:09
  ignoring the pain and the plight of God's people.
• 6:12
  In fact, he was very much acquainted with it, aware of it
• 6:16
  and unwilling to leave it in a state of unjustice, rather
• 6:22
  wanted to come and rectify all of those things.
• 6:26
  The, the reality is in our world, there's a lot of talk
• 6:30
  today about church hurt, pain we experience within the people of
• 6:35
  God. I, I, I don't think that we need
• 6:38
  to ignore that. There's a lot of resources on
• 6:40
  how to heal and grow from that. I think there's been a lot of
• 6:44
  lot of, I'll say it this way, We're we're denominations
• 6:51
  leaders, church groups have fallen short and done severe
• 6:58
  damage. We have seen in the last decade
• 7:01
  those things come to the light like Jesus is coming to the
• 7:04
  light because he wants his church pure and clean and whole.
• 7:08
  He wants us to be healed. And part of our healing is being
• 7:11
  able to name the harm that has been done.
• 7:16
  You cannot heal until you are willing to name the harm done
• 7:20
  done to you and done by you. I think we have to be willing to
• 7:25
  own that Jesus is showing us and modeling for us here in John 10
• 7:30
  that very fact he's naming the fact that there has been harm
• 7:34
  done to his people by shepherds. He is named that there is evil
• 7:40
  and and things that are happening higher hands, those
• 7:43
  that are from within the sheepfold that man they're
• 7:45
  they've done some harm. Some of my deepest pain.
• 7:50
  Some of the the most troubling seasons in my life has been
• 7:53
  caused by people who bear the name of Christian right.
• 7:57
  Like that's been a part of my life and my story and maybe it
• 8:00
  has been for you. I think it's important to to
• 8:03
  note that like Jesus is saying, often shepherds in our world who
• 8:07
  do harm are shepherds who are driving people.
• 8:11
  But I don't. Think we can ignore the fact
• 8:13
  that sheep bite and they butt heads?
• 8:15
  In fact, one of the ways sheeps protect themselves or get back
• 8:21
  or attack is they butt heads. They like, use their head to ram
• 8:25
  into other sheep, into the shepherd.
• 8:29
  If they're agitated or aggravated, they just like ram.
• 8:31
  They butt heads. Sheep do that that that's
• 8:36
  painful. That that can hurt, hurt the
• 8:38
  shepherd. I think that why am I talking
• 8:41
  about it in this term, Because the word pastor really means
• 8:45
  shepherd. Pastoring is shepherding.
• 8:48
  Shepherding is pastoring. There are some pastors, those
• 8:53
  shepherds who lead churches who have done some horrible things,
• 8:57
  people in church and religious circles that have done harm to
• 9:01
  others. Some, some some leaders should
• 9:05
  have protected kids, but they didn't.
• 9:08
  Some leaders in the church have been selfish to the years,
• 9:12
  really greedy and materialistic. Some have inflicted harm and
• 9:16
  controlled and manipulated. There's been wolves in sheep's
• 9:20
  clothing. The, the, the sheep that have
• 9:22
  been that, that wolves that have been disguised as sheep that
• 9:25
  have just done damage to other followers of Jesus.
• 9:31
  And there's been wolves in shepherd's clothing that's done
• 9:35
  damage to people that God deeply cares about.
• 9:39
  God wants to restore. God wants to heal.
• 9:41
  It's true. Shepherds can wound and sheep
• 9:44
  can wound. God is going to hold shepherds
• 9:47
  accountable and God will hold sheep accountable too.
• 9:51
  But that doesn't mean that God doesn't care in the meantime,
• 9:54
  nor does that mean that God doesn't come and heal in the
• 9:59
  meantime. He does let's go back and look
• 10:02
  at some of the things that Ezekiel 34 says as it relates to
• 10:06
  this harmful realities that flocks experience either harm
• 10:10
  from within the flock or harm from the shepherds of the flock.
• 10:15
  Son of Man, he says in verse 2 in chapter 34, prophecy against
• 10:19
  the shepherds of Israel prophecy and say to them this is what the
• 10:22
  Lord God says to the shepherds. Woe to the shepherds of Israel
• 10:26
  who have been feeding themselves.
• 10:28
  Shouldn't the shepherds feed their flock?
• 10:30
  You eat the fat, you wear the wool, and you butcher the fat in
• 10:33
  animals, but you do not tend the flock.
• 10:36
  You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged
• 10:39
  the injured, brought back the strays or sought the lost.
• 10:42
  Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.
• 10:47
  They were scattered for a lack of shepherd.
• 10:49
  They became food for all the wild animals and they were
• 10:52
  scattered. I think it's interesting that
• 10:55
  he's talking about these wild animals that come and prey on
• 10:58
  the sheep. I, I, I think often throughout
• 11:00
  the narrative of Scripture you'll find that wild animals,
• 11:04
  beasts of the field, uninhabited spaces are all allegorical or
• 11:10
  metaphoric references to unseen demonic activity.
• 11:14
  Where where there is a thief, steal, killing and destroying,
• 11:18
  where there is a spiritual dynamic at play influencing in a
• 11:23
  negative way what people are experiencing from from life.
• 11:28
  Ezekiel 34 goes on to say this in verse 11.
• 11:31
  For this is what God says. See, I myself will search for my
• 11:34
  flock and look for them as a shepherd looks for his sheep on
• 11:38
  the day he is among his scatter flock.
• 11:39
  So I will look for my flock. I will rescue them from all the
• 11:43
  places where they've been scattered.
• 11:45
  I will tend to my flock and let them lie down.
• 11:48
  Verse 16 says I will seek the loss, bring back the strays,
• 11:51
  bandage the injured and strengthen the weak.
• 11:54
  This is God talking about what he's going to do as the shepherd
• 11:59
  who is good, the Good Shepherd, the ultimate shepherd, the
• 12:02
  shepherd of all shepherds that the pastor of all pastors, if
• 12:05
  you will. In fact, throughout the Old
• 12:08
  Testament, we have shepherds being represented by leaders and
• 12:12
  priests like Moses who shepherded and was a priest from
• 12:17
  among the sheep themselves. You have people like King David
• 12:21
  who was a shepherd king who stewarded power to protect those
• 12:26
  around him. And then you have prophets who
• 12:29
  were shepherds who were who were among those delivering the word
• 12:34
  of the God to bring people back to God.
• 12:38
  And what I love is that Jesus is the the perfect culmination, the
• 12:43
  embodiment of a prophet, of a priest and a king, all three
• 12:48
  represented as shepherds in the Old Testament, prophets, priests
• 12:52
  and king. And I think the perfect reversal
• 12:56
  to a. Thief, a hired hand and a
• 12:58
  robber. Which Jesus names and and the
• 13:01
  Scripture in John 10. What do you mean by that,
• 13:04
  Matthew? Here's what I mean.
• 13:05
  I mean that thieves were the ones that would use deceit,
• 13:10
  secrecy, kind of manipulate and draw along for their own
• 13:15
  benefit. It's like many of the priests in
• 13:19
  Jesus's day. They were thieves who were kind
• 13:23
  of among the sheep, deceiving the sheep, leading them astray
• 13:28
  from within. Jesus is a priest who doesn't
• 13:32
  thieve, rather he delivers us and leads us in the right way.
• 13:37
  Jesus is a a prophet, the prophet who was pointing people
• 13:43
  to God, prophet who wasn't abusive, who wasn't demanding,
• 13:48
  who wasn't a bully, who wasn't a robber, rather a prophet who is
• 13:54
  tender but but firm and clear and bringing us conviction,
• 13:59
  leading us back to God rather than robbing and taking things
• 14:03
  from us. And he was a king.
• 14:07
  Unlike A hired hand who would run and abdicate and be be self
• 14:11
  protective, Noah King would steward his power to protect
• 14:16
  those in his care and as a good steward.
• 14:22
  I think that's contrasted with hired hands and king kings that
• 14:27
  were godly stewarded their power well.
• 14:30
  Jesus knew how to steward the authority.
• 14:33
  And the power that was given to him, and he did it well, Jesus
• 14:38
  is the perfect reversal, the redemptive reversal of thieves,
• 14:43
  of robbers and hired hands, because he was a.
• 14:46
  Prophet, a priest and a king. Micah chapter 5 and verse 4 says
• 14:50
  this. He will stand and shepherd them
• 14:53
  in the great strength of the Lord, in the majestic name of
• 14:57
  the Lord his God. They will live securely, and
• 15:00
  then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.
• 15:05
  This is Jesus who comes to lead us as the Good Shepherd out of
• 15:10
  the harmful way of thieves, of robbers, and of hired hands.
• 15:17
  And he leads us with his voice, His voice that is tender, kind,
• 15:23
  and loving. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, uses
• 15:26
  his voice to lead us. He doesn't use his voice to
• 15:30
  drive us, to condemn us, to abuse us, to manipulate us.
• 15:34
  No, He is a Good Shepherd who tenderly cares for us, and his
• 15:39
  voice speaks tenderly. His voice speaks identity.
• 15:42
  His voice brings love and restoration to.
• 15:46
  Our hearts. We talked about.
• 15:49
  Tone and how tone shapes the atmosphere I want to unpack.
• 15:54
  That a little bit more. See, a harsh tone creates fear,
• 15:57
  defensiveness, and distance, while a gentle, respectful tone
• 16:01
  nurtures growth, belonging, and freedom.
• 16:04
  Our tone, it matters. I mentioned this just kind of
• 16:07
  briefly, but let me unpack this a little bit more and tell you a
• 16:11
  little more about tone and the importance of it.
• 16:14
  A tone has a way of erode. A wrong tone has a way of
• 16:19
  eroding trust and safety. Like a sharp and biting tone can
• 16:22
  signal threat rather than care. Overtime, people begin to
• 16:25
  withdraw or put up defenses, which breaks down trust and
• 16:29
  intimacy. Flourishing requires safe,
• 16:32
  secure relationships. A tone amplifies a negative tone
• 16:37
  amplifies conflict instead of resolving it.
• 16:40
  Proverbs 15 One says a gentle answer turns away anger, and a
• 16:45
  harsh word stirs up wrath. I think if you're finding
• 16:50
  yourself always angry or that there's always a stirring of
• 16:54
  strife around you or wrath, you might want to check your tone.
• 16:59
  A harsh tone escalates tension, making reconciliation harder and
• 17:04
  keeping people locked in cycles of conflict instead of moving
• 17:08
  towards real reconciliation and peace.
• 17:11
  Toxic or or harmful tones can create wounded identity and and
• 17:17
  self worth. Tone carries emotional weight.
• 17:20
  Speaking harshly can make others feel belittled or devalued,
• 17:23
  shaping how they see themselves human flourishing.
• 17:25
  On the other hand, it bans on encouragement and dignity and
• 17:28
  not constant criticism. A wrong tone models unhealthy
• 17:35
  communication patterns. Families, teams, and communities
• 17:38
  often mirror the communication they receive.
• 17:42
  A harsh tone can ripple outward, teaching children, friends or
• 17:46
  colleagues that harshness is normal, perpetuating cycles of
• 17:50
  unhealthy interaction. It can block openness to truth
• 17:54
  and growth. It also can drain emotional and
• 17:59
  spiritual life and energy from. Us, I think.
• 18:03
  I think a. Flourishing life requires joy
• 18:05
  and hope. And and and life giving things.
• 18:08
  That's that's speaking life. That's what the spirit does.
• 18:10
  But harshness just kind of wears you down, leaves you to scourge,
• 18:15
  creates anxiousness, and maybe embitters you.
• 18:18
  Making it really hard to live in the fullness that God designed.
• 18:21
  Here's what I want you to know. Jesus's tone set the table for
• 18:25
  belonging and perfection and protection, not creating cycles
• 18:30
  of defensiveness. Jesus tone didn't create
• 18:34
  isolation. Jesus's tone didn't create
• 18:37
  distance rat or or incite fear. No, no, Jesus's tone kind of set
• 18:44
  the table for for belonging. Let's take a look at some of the
• 18:47
  things Jesus did in his life throughout the gospels.
• 18:49
  Like he was gentle and compassionate with a tone
• 18:52
  towards the vulnerable. We saw it in John 8 with the
• 18:56
  woman caught in adultery. He, he was very compassionate
• 19:00
  and gentle. He, he did this with children.
• 19:03
  He welcomed and blessed them. You can see that in Mark chapter
• 19:06
  10 with the sick, with the grieving or the marginalized.
• 19:10
  His words carry comfort and healing, affirming that their
• 19:13
  value in God's eyes hasn't been diminished by their status.
• 19:18
  In. Life and works to help reconcile
• 19:22
  that His tone built safety and belonging, opening the way for
• 19:26
  real human flourishing. Jesus's tone was patient and
• 19:30
  instructive with his disciples with with the disciples who
• 19:35
  misunderstood arguing about like who is the greatest?
• 19:38
  Jesus corrected them out completely, belittling them in
• 19:43
  their worth. He he corrected an action
• 19:46
  without creating a negative view of themselves.
• 19:53
  He was in John 14 through 16, which we'll get into here in a
• 19:58
  few weeks. Jesus tone is so nurturing and.
• 20:01
  Hopeful. He was preparing them, His
• 20:04
  disciples, for His departure by assuring them of the gift of the
• 20:09
  Holy Spirit that would come. He just modeled truth spoken in
• 20:13
  love with firm guidance and really good relational care.
• 20:18
  This is how Jesus spoke. This was his tone.
• 20:21
  Jesus tone was firm but redemptive with the proud and
• 20:24
  the resistant. Think about the Pharisees and
• 20:27
  the religious leaders. His consent sometimes could feel
• 20:30
  sharp, but like woe to you scribes and Pharisees,
• 20:33
  hypocrites. It it wasn't so much sharp as it
• 20:36
  was just alerting kind of like jarring for a minute.
• 20:39
  His severity wasn't rooted in contempt, but rather in exposing
• 20:44
  hypocrisy and protecting others from spiritual abuse.
• 20:50
  Why? Because he was exercising power
• 20:54
  and authority to protect not his self-interest but those under
• 21:00
  his care. Again, his tone was tender and
• 21:04
  his personal encounters with Peter after he had denied Jesus.
• 21:09
  Jesus tongue was restorative, not condemning.
• 21:13
  Do you love me Peter? Well, feed my sheep, it was
• 21:16
  restorative. With Thomas in his doubts, Jesus
• 21:20
  invited him to gently Hey, put your fingers here, do you?
• 21:23
  Don't be in disbelief, but believe Jesus's tone brought
• 21:28
  people back into wholeness rather than pushing them away
• 21:32
  into isolation or brokenness. Jesus's tone matters because he
• 21:39
  is the Good Shepherd who didn't come to bring harm to his flock.
• 21:44
  He came to help restore and heal and care for the sheep in his
• 21:51
  flock. The second thing I wanted to to
• 21:53
  point out kind of a big idea is that there is one flock and we
• 21:58
  didn't get into this really, really exclusively, But in John
• 22:02
  10, he he talks about, hey, listen, I have sheep that you
• 22:06
  don't know of and they're coming here for me.
• 22:09
  In fact, let me let me read it to you.
• 22:11
  John 10 towards a little bit later on in verse 25 start,
• 22:20
  let's start in verse 26. He says, but you don't believe
• 22:23
  because you are not of my sheep. He's talking to some of the
• 22:26
  religious leaders of their day. My sheep hear my voice.
• 22:30
  I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and
• 22:36
  they will not perish. No one will snatch them out of
• 22:40
  my hand. My Father who has given them to
• 22:42
  me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out
• 22:45
  of my Father's hand. I and the Father are are one and
• 22:50
  earlier in verse 1415 and 16, he talks about in verse 16.
• 22:55
  But I have other sheep that are not from the sheep pen.
• 22:58
  I you must bring them also and they will listen to my voice.
• 23:01
  There. There will be 1 flock and 1
• 23:04
  shepherd. So Jesus knows who belongs in
• 23:09
  his family and who doesn't get to enter into his family, who
• 23:13
  doesn't get to enter into the sheepfold.
• 23:15
  Ezekiel 34 verse 17 says As for you my flock, the Lord says
• 23:21
  this, look I am going to judge between 1 sheep and another
• 23:26
  between Rams and goats. Matthew 2531 and 34 Jesus says
• 23:32
  this, when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all of the
• 23:35
  angels with him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
• 23:39
  All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate
• 23:42
  them one from another, just as a shepherd separate sheep from the
• 23:46
  goats. He will put the sheep on his
• 23:48
  right and the goats on his left. Putting it on your right and
• 23:53
  left, the right hand was seen as inheritance, blessing and
• 23:56
  position. It was that the right hand of
• 23:59
  inheritance of blessing of. Birthright, if you will, and
• 24:03
  then verse 34 Jesus says then the King meaning himself will
• 24:07
  say to those on his right come, you who are blessed by my Father
• 24:12
  inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the
• 24:18
  world. I think it's really important.
• 24:20
  He says the Kingdom is been prepared from the foundations of
• 24:23
  the world. I do believe that from the
• 24:27
  foundations of the world, God foreknew who would and who
• 24:31
  wouldn't accept his invitation to repent and join the Kingdom.
• 24:36
  I don't believe in what's called double predestination, which
• 24:40
  often in the Calvinistic line of thinking, a Reformed tradition,
• 24:46
  often it's found in those places.
• 24:49
  There's some great teaching and theology that has come out of
• 24:52
  those camps. I don't believe double
• 24:54
  predestination is. I don't find biblical evidence
• 24:58
  for that. Double predestination is simply
• 25:00
  this, as best I can can define it is that there are some who
• 25:04
  are already predetermined by God to go to heaven and
• 25:08
  predetermined by God to not get into heaven, not experience
• 25:12
  eternal life like God has already sentenced them and is
• 25:18
  his mind is not changed in that. And I don't believe that's what
• 25:23
  Jesus is teaching here. I believe one of the things
• 25:25
  Jesus is saying is that the Kingdom of God has been prepared
• 25:29
  for those who are in the flock. That's been.
• 25:32
  Prepared from the very very. Beginning and there will be a
• 25:36
  separation of sheeps and and goats.
• 25:38
  He's talking about there's one flock, Jews and Gentiles coming
• 25:41
  together in one body, 1 union, one covenant together with the
• 25:48
  Lord, those that are faithful and believe in Yahweh and those
• 25:54
  the carriers of the covenant and those who have been grafted into
• 25:58
  the covenant with God, Gentiled walking with the Lord.
• 26:03
  It's a wide open sense of belonging that happens because
• 26:07
  we believe in Jesus. Belonging isn't automatic.
• 26:10
  John 1 is really clear. Not everyone is a child of God.
• 26:13
  Not everyone is in the Kingdom of God.
• 26:16
  Not everyone is only those who believe in Jesus.
• 26:20
  He's given them the right, the birthright to be called children
• 26:26
  of God. In other words, it's only those
• 26:28
  who have embodied their loyalty in the work of Jesus and trust
• 26:33
  in Jesus as saving King. When you trust that he will save
• 26:37
  you and deliver you from evil, that he will give you
• 26:41
  resurrection life one day, that you believe in who Jesus is and
• 26:45
  you give your life in repentance and following after him.
• 26:49
  Jesus says then that, then, then those he has given the right to
• 26:53
  be called sons of God, the birthright, the right hand of
• 26:57
  blessing. You will be a sheep instead of a
• 27:00
  goat in the end of time. And Jesus is really, really
• 27:05
  clear that there's a distinction between the two.
• 27:07
  It's not automatic. It doesn't matter if you
• 27:11
  associate with the church or associate or even kind of adhere
• 27:16
  to things of the scripture like like legalism and lawlessness
• 27:20
  aren't the same thing as loyalty to Jesus.
• 27:24
  Loyalty, the trust in Jesus, living your life after him,
• 27:30
  letting him be Lord, means that you aren't Lord, so you don't
• 27:34
  live lawlessly. And because he is Lord, you live
• 27:37
  with loyalty to him. But you live with loyalty to him
• 27:41
  out of relationship with him, not out of legalism, trying to
• 27:45
  prove that you deserve being in the Kingdom of God.
• 27:50
  That's the difference between legalism and loyalty or legalism
• 27:54
  and lawlessness. We want to live rather
• 27:56
  surrendered to him as Lord, giving our allegiance and our
• 28:01
  loyalty to Jesus as saving King, following in his in his ways.
• 28:06
  And so in so doing, he says, like you're in my hand, I'm
• 28:11
  holding you. I think it's important, I've
• 28:14
  said it before, the deliverance of God or salvation is more
• 28:19
  secure than what we think it is, and it's less automatic than we
• 28:24
  might assume. I think a lot of times we read
• 28:27
  it in, in Luke, in the message, Jesus is narrow is the way that
• 28:32
  there's a narrow way. It's not that it's impossible to
• 28:36
  get into the Kingdom of God. I think that's it's, it's only
• 28:40
  impossible to get into the Kingdom of God without the king.
• 28:42
  When you're loyal to the king, the king lets you in.
• 28:44
  The king brings you in like he saves you, he delivers you, he
• 28:47
  rescues you. He he buys you back out of
• 28:50
  darkness and transfers you into the Kingdom of light.
• 28:53
  As Peter talks about like, like he does this for us.
• 28:57
  This is something that Jesus does.
• 28:59
  The saving work of God is a work of the Spirit of God.
• 29:02
  And in so doing, we, we give our loyalty and our allegiance to
• 29:07
  him, which leads us into union with him.
• 29:11
  The end of the day, we we want this eternal life.
• 29:14
  What is eternal life John 17? Eternal life is this that they
• 29:18
  may know you. It's to know Jesus.
• 29:21
  That's what John 10 is talking about.
• 29:22
  Abundant life, eternal life, abundant life, synonyms similar
• 29:28
  to each other, just different ways of referring to it.
• 29:31
  The abundant life or the eternal life of God is life in union
• 29:36
  with God. It's a relation.
• 29:39
  It's knowing him. It's Genosko, that Greek word to
• 29:42
  know. It's it's this knowing and being
• 29:45
  with God, in union with God. And when we are in union with
• 29:49
  him, we are connected to the source of life.
• 29:51
  We are connected to the source of transformation.
• 29:54
  We are connected to the source of the the power and life of
• 29:56
  God. There is a connection that is
• 29:58
  there. Just because He's the source of
• 30:01
  all of life doesn't mean we automatically receive life.
• 30:05
  If He is the source of life, we have to connect in communion
• 30:09
  with the source of life in order to receive the abundant eternal
• 30:13
  life of God that is ongoing now and perpetuated into the life in
• 30:19
  the world that is is to come. There is a union with God.
• 30:22
  That's the point. I think that's the what many
• 30:25
  throughout history have tried to say is Christianity isn't a
• 30:29
  religion, it's a relationship. Well, it is a relationship, but
• 30:33
  it is also a religion. So I don't not trying to split
• 30:37
  hairs there. I don't think we need to be
• 30:39
  afraid of that word. But I do think we need to
• 30:42
  recognize that there is a union with God that we can experience,
• 30:47
  that we are invited to experience.
• 30:49
  And that's what saving work of God is producing in US is union,
• 30:56
  communion, relationship restored with Father, Son and Spirit.
• 31:01
  And so when he he's talking about like, I've got sheep that
• 31:04
  you don't know of, I'm going to bring them into my flock.
• 31:07
  And at the end of time, there's, there's going to be some that
• 31:10
  are in the flock that that that you didn't think were in the
• 31:13
  flock. And there's going to be some
• 31:14
  that you assumed were in the flock, but they didn't make the
• 31:16
  flock. There's going to be some that
• 31:18
  I'm going to depart and say, man, listen, I depart.
• 31:20
  I never, I never knew you. I think that's some of what
• 31:25
  Jesus is getting at. He's using and hinting at some
• 31:29
  apocalyptic language. In fact, when you get into John
• 31:33
  10 and and, and look at verse like 28 where it says I give
• 31:36
  them eternal life and they will never perish.
• 31:39
  No one will snatch them out of my hand.
• 31:41
  That word snatch is a really interesting one.
• 31:43
  Jesus is using similar language to Matthew 24 where Matthew 2410
• 31:51
  when he talks about there will be two walking along the road,
• 31:54
  one will be taken and the other will remain.
• 31:59
  Many times we use that verse incorrectly to think about a a
• 32:03
  secret rapture of the church. I've taught on this before.
• 32:07
  I don't really hold to a secret rapture of the church.
• 32:11
  I don't think that that's actually what the Scriptures are
• 32:13
  talking about. I do believe in the return of
• 32:14
  Christ. It's eminent, it's coming, and
• 32:17
  it cannot be missed. And when he that is snatched or
• 32:20
  taken out, it's the same word to be snatched, to be taken out.
• 32:25
  This means that those who are separated out, sheep and goats,
• 32:31
  there are those that are welcomed in and those that are
• 32:33
  snatched out taken. Out, removed, taken. 1 remains
• 32:39
  and one is taken. One stays in his hand, the other
• 32:43
  is snatched out of his hand. What is Jesus doing?
• 32:46
  He's just in a short phrase. Harkening to what he would teach
• 32:51
  on more in an expounded way in Matthew 24 where he records that
• 32:56
  at the end of time when Jesus returns and the judgement occurs
• 32:59
  that there are those who remain and experience the resurrection
• 33:03
  and the restoration of all creation.
• 33:05
  And then those who are snatched, those who are taken, those who
• 33:09
  are removed from the restored Kingdom and experience eternal
• 33:14
  separation from God. Why?
• 33:16
  Because the goal. Is.
• 33:17
  Union with him this is. The understanding and so this is
• 33:21
  a verse not really about apostasy verse salvation
• 33:24
  guarantee regardless of ongoing rebellion which again that's the
• 33:28
  argument of once saved always saved.
• 33:29
  I just don't think that's the framework of Scripture or a
• 33:32
  point of any of the scriptures. I think what we see is that
• 33:35
  Jesus is saying when you're in the family, you're safe, you're
• 33:38
  secure, and when you leave the. Family when you apostasy.
• 33:42
  When, when when? When apostasy is happening when
• 33:45
  you rebel. That's a possibility.
• 33:47
  Too and you are no longer secure when you are in rebellion, but
• 33:51
  when you remain in him and abide in him and connect with him,
• 33:54
  you're going to bear fruit and life.
• 33:56
  And there is assurance of a security in that.
• 33:59
  We don't have to worry am I did it.
• 34:01
  Work. Did it not work?
• 34:02
  Can I trust that he's going to bring resurrection live?
• 34:05
  Are you trusting in Jesus or are you trusting?
• 34:07
  In something else. That's the assurance.
• 34:08
  That's what he's trying to say. My sheep, they hear my voice.
• 34:11
  They are with me. They are protected.
• 34:12
  They are here. There is safe.
• 34:14
  Your salvation is more secure than what you might think and
• 34:17
  it's less automatic than you might assume, which is why we
• 34:21
  don't want to just drift into rebellion.
• 34:24
  We want to remain in loyalty to him.
• 34:27
  We want to have faith for today. It's really this verse in verse
• 34:33
  28 is not really about apostasy or salvation guarantee.
• 34:38
  This verse. Is about Jesus's return.
• 34:40
  This verse is about the eternal judgement that is to come.
• 34:44
  This verse is about those living the eternal life.
• 34:47
  Ongoing, abundant abiding life in crime will be protected from
• 34:51
  being taken away into permanent exile.
• 34:55
  So this verse is in a sense about security of eternity, in
• 35:00
  the sense of when judgement comes at the end, we remain in
• 35:06
  Him that that the mark of the Spirit is clear in our lives.
• 35:10
  We've been marked with the blood of Christ.
• 35:12
  We are safe and secure when death passes over, when judgment
• 35:16
  comes, when exile is about to happen again, when sheep and
• 35:20
  goats are being separated. If you're a sheep, you're safe.
• 35:23
  If you're a goat, you better repent and become a sheep.
• 35:27
  But but when Jesus returns, this is when the separation is
• 35:31
  permanent. It happens.
• 35:33
  And so he's going to. There are those who will be
• 35:35
  taken away, snatched. Away And So what Jesus is doing,
• 35:40
  and John 10 is talking about that judgment specifically when
• 35:43
  he returns. And that's what he's helping us
• 35:46
  understand, that he is a Good Shepherd and he has one flock.
• 35:52
  That one flock is a. Flock of sheep, not of goats.
• 35:56
  And we enter into his flock through the gate of Jesus, and
• 36:02
  we can find safety by and from and through our Good Shepherd.
• 36:08
  The last thing I want to say is. This Jesus said that he is the
• 36:12
  the gate. He's the gatekeeper, if you
• 36:15
  will. Jesus is.
• 36:17
  Laying. Down his life and he is picking
• 36:20
  it back up later because he wins the victory over the unseen
• 36:23
  realm Colossians. One talks about that Christ is,
• 36:27
  is the the creator of those things and he is the victor of
• 36:32
  those things. And so he when he says I lay my
• 36:35
  life down, he's talking about like being the gatekeeper that
• 36:38
  lays down in the gateway. So nothing can come in or come
• 36:42
  out without the shepherd knowing exactly who's coming in and
• 36:46
  going out because the shepherd would always lay down at the
• 36:49
  entry point at the gate. And so Jesus saying, I'm laying
• 36:53
  down there and I'm going to pick my life back up and have victory
• 36:57
  over everything. I think this is what the Holy
• 37:01
  Spirit does for us. When we receive the Holy Spirit,
• 37:04
  he becomes like a gatekeeper for us, convicting us, correcting
• 37:09
  us, guiding us, leading us into truth.
• 37:12
  Why? Because the Holy Spirit wants to
• 37:15
  keep us safe and keep us in union with Jesus.
• 37:20
  That's the whole point of this illustration, this.
• 37:24
  Whole point of the allegory. Of being in the sheepfold.
• 37:27
  Jesus says. My sheep hear my voice.
• 37:29
  They I know them by name, they know me and they follow me.
• 37:34
  What is that? You?
• 37:36
  That's a picture. It's a way of talking about
• 37:38
  union with God. The Holy Spirit is the one who
• 37:42
  fills us, sustains us, saves us, redeems us, sanctifies US, draws
• 37:47
  us, keeps us, leads us, guides us, comforts us.
• 37:50
  He is the Holy Spirit. That's what all of the
• 37:52
  Scripture, In fact, from John 14 through John 16, Jesus is going
• 37:56
  to get real, explicit and clear about the person of the Holy
• 38:00
  Spirit and His role in our lives to bring us as adopted sons and
• 38:05
  daughters into the family of God, bringing us union with the.
• 38:10
  The Father, through the work and price of Christ life being laid
• 38:15
  down as the gatekeeper, so the Holy Spirit is.
• 38:18
  The one who helps guide us and lead us and bring about the
• 38:21
  union with God. And we have a role to play in
• 38:27
  keeping our hearts and our minds stayed on Christ, keeping our
• 38:31
  lives in union with Jesus, keeping our ears open to hear
• 38:35
  the voice of Jesus. And when we hear the voice of
• 38:39
  Jesus, we follow it, which helps us know it more ongoingly.
• 38:45
  That's the whole point of this gatekeeper, the gate that that
• 38:49
  being in the sheep pen. It's an allegory for being in
• 38:53
  union with God. And as a.
• 38:56
  Followers. Of Jesus, I think it's important
• 38:59
  that we guard our hearts. We guard our eyes, we guard our
• 39:02
  ears. All of all of these are gateways
• 39:05
  into our heart and soul. Things that that we look at,
• 39:09
  things that we say, things that we hear, things that we think
• 39:12
  about, things that we feel and impact and believe.
• 39:17
  All of these are impacting or our gateways into our hearts,
• 39:24
  so. We want to be.
• 39:25
  A gatekeeper or a guard over the entry points into our life we
• 39:31
  have. All of these entry points where.
• 39:33
  We can let the love of God in, or we can be influenced by the
• 39:37
  voice of the enemy in these areas. 2nd Corinthians 10 verse
• 39:41
  four and seven says this. Since the weapons of our warfare
• 39:44
  are not of the flesh, but they are powerful through God for the
• 39:48
  demolition of strongholds. These things in our minds,
• 39:51
  unbelief, structures that we have that keep us back from
• 39:55
  growing in God. He says we demolish every
• 39:58
  argument and every proud thing that it raises up against the
• 40:02
  knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey.
• 40:08
  Christ, we punish. We are ready to punish any
• 40:13
  disobedience. Once our obedience is complete.
• 40:18
  What is He trying to help us do? Here's how you break out of
• 40:23
  areas that have held you back, that have you bound you.
• 40:27
  Take every thought. Submit it to the truth of Jesus
• 40:30
  as the gatekeeper. And when you recognize the truth
• 40:34
  of Jesus, you walk in obedience to that.
• 40:38
  And in walking in obedience, you are demolishing, kicking down
• 40:42
  the very stronghold that has held you back from following God
• 40:46
  into the green pastures. So I think it's important that
• 40:50
  that so much of what Jesus is doing as the Good Shepherd is to
• 40:54
  bring us freedom, not fear, to walk in obedience, not some
• 40:59
  abstract idea. Jesus is the protection from the
• 41:03
  enemy who lies in order to steal, kill, and destroy.
• 41:06
  He protects us. There's safety from the thief.
• 41:09
  He cares. He's not a hired hand.
• 41:11
  Jesus is that the gatekeeper of our heart and soul.
• 41:14
  We use Jesus and the truth of who he is as a filter.
• 41:20
  Everything that comes in our ears, our eyes, our mouth, our
• 41:23
  our hearts or our minds needs to be filtered or passed the litmus
• 41:27
  test of is this true because of Jesus in my life?
• 41:30
  Is this representative of Jesus in my life?
• 41:33
  Is this a truth or is this a lie?
• 41:35
  Is this what Jesus did for me or is this something the enemy is
• 41:39
  holding me back? Can Jesus heal this, Restore
• 41:41
  this, or is this broken is caused by the evil in our world?
• 41:45
  Everything in our life has to go through the gate of Jesus.
• 41:50
  All of our experiences, all of our thoughts, all of our
• 41:53
  assumptions, all of our habits, patterns, actions.
• 41:56
  We want to filter them through the reality and loyalty and and
• 42:01
  trust of Jesus so that we walk in and walk out with safety,
• 42:06
  wholeness, freedom, not fear, not harm, not not being stolen,
• 42:12
  not things being stolen, killed or destroyed in our lives.
• 42:15
  We find freedom in Jesus, not fear.
• 42:18
  Jesus protects us and we stay close to Him.
• 42:22
  There are gateways in your heart and soul, and at those gateways
• 42:28
  you need to have Jesus, the truth of Him, the power of Him,
• 42:33
  the voice of Jesus and reality of truth as the gatekeeper.
• 42:38
  To not let certain things in and take root in your life, to keep
• 42:42
  certain things out, to keep fear out and to live according to the
• 42:46
  way of Jesus. To walk in obedience so that you
• 42:50
  can punish, destroy, remove all disobedience.
• 42:54
  Why? Because Jesus and my sheep hear
• 42:57
  my voice. They know it and they follow it.
• 43:02
  We want to walk in obedience. So when we are walking in the
• 43:05
  obedience to the voice of Jesus, we are walking and.
• 43:09
  Protecting our minds, our ears, our mouths, our eyes, our hearts
• 43:14
  from walking and being LED astray to being, to walking and
• 43:20
  following Jesus along his way of living and life so that we can
• 43:25
  find rest and restoration for our souls.
• 43:30
  Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is the gate and He is the one
• 43:35
  who lays down His life and His voice transforms our hearts and
• 43:41
  minds, brings healing to our soul, and His voice is tender
• 43:46
  and He is indeed our Good Shepherd.
• 43:49
  All right, let's get into a few questions and some responses.
• 43:54
  We said that's some really thoughtful questions and I'm
• 43:56
  going to do my best to answer them or respond as best I can.
• 44:00
  Here's the first question. Why is God so good to us?
• 44:04
  It's hard to understand. Even those who are his sheep
• 44:07
  still sin. What reason does God have to
• 44:10
  continue being good to us? I, I, I think it's so, so true.
• 44:16
  God is indeed really good to us, but better than we are.
• 44:20
  I think part of this is to remember that God is always.
• 44:25
  Acting from his nature. Not according to ours, so that's
• 44:31
  why. He can always respond tenderly
• 44:34
  even when he's being corrective because he's not emotive.
• 44:39
  Lee triggered or responding. Out of emotions or hurt or pain,
• 44:46
  He's responding out of purpose and potential and promise and
• 44:51
  all the things that he holds. Simultaneously, like he's acting
• 44:55
  from his nature, not from from ours.
• 44:58
  And and it's true, we do still, we still miss the mark or do
• 45:02
  things that hinder our union with him.
• 45:06
  But the goal is to keep the union going.
• 45:10
  So he gives us the Holy Spirit to convict us so that we bring
• 45:14
  into the light all the things that we need to bring into the
• 45:17
  light. Why?
• 45:18
  First, John says, because when we're in the light, we have
• 45:21
  fellowship with him. What's that union with him?
• 45:25
  Communion with Godfather, God the Father, God the.
• 45:28
  Son and God the Spirit, because, because again, the whole point
• 45:31
  of the allegory. Of the Good Shepherd, the
• 45:32
  shepherd and the sheep, the sheep pen and the flock.
• 45:35
  His union with him to know him and that he would know us.
• 45:41
  That's the whole point. Don't get caught in the the the
• 45:44
  little nuances. I said at the beginning of the
• 45:47
  most. We have to remember the big
• 45:48
  picture. What's the big picture?
• 45:50
  God wants union with you. He wants to connect with you and
• 45:54
  and he comes and forgives and heals and brings in all of who
• 45:59
  we are, our waywardness. He wants to reorient so that
• 46:03
  we're not bent away from him, but we're bent toward him.
• 46:07
  That's that ongoing process that he has in our.
• 46:09
  Hearts and so I think it's true the longer.
• 46:12
  I follow God. The longer I follow the Good
• 46:15
  Shepherd Jesus, the the more good I see from him and in him.
• 46:23
  I think this is what what we long for.
• 46:26
  The longer I follow him, the more of his goodness I see, the
• 46:30
  more of the fear of God I have. What?
• 46:32
  What did I mean by that? I mean that the longer I am in
• 46:36
  union and and and and walk in relationship with God, the more
• 46:41
  I fear. Life without that relationship
• 46:44
  in it, without the presence of God in it, as a church our our
• 46:48
  whole. Kind of church mission, if you
• 46:51
  will, is to pursue the presence of God, to participate in
• 46:56
  redemptive formation, and to practice or live out the
• 47:00
  essential mission of the Kingdom of God.
• 47:03
  We, we want the presence, formation and mission.
• 47:06
  These are the three things that we're after and and the longer
• 47:09
  we we keep abiding in that circle, the longer we continue
• 47:13
  in those things, I think the more of his goodness and the
• 47:16
  more of his beauty and the more of his life we experience.
• 47:20
  Because the abundant life isn't a one time moment.
• 47:23
  It's an ongoing life of abiding in the abundant eternal life of
• 47:31
  God. That's what we've been invited
• 47:33
  into and that's what we want to hang out in.
• 47:37
  Next question. My my brother-in-law has been a
• 47:41
  believer for many years and said this to me one day.
• 47:44
  God doesn't speak to me, I just have common sense.
• 47:48
  I think God does. Speak to him, but he just.
• 47:50
  Doesn't realize it's God. He thinks it's quote UN quote
• 47:52
  himself. Could you explain this scenario
• 47:55
  or help us reconcile these ideas with the fact that God speaks to
• 48:00
  us? Yeah, I think a lot of us.
• 48:04
  Let me just affirm, God does give us common sense for a
• 48:07
  reason, right? Like I, I think that he expects
• 48:09
  us to do it. I heard even recently that the
• 48:12
  phrase I've been waiting on God is really not one that you see
• 48:17
  very often in Scripture. We we, we did wait or tarry for
• 48:20
  the Holy Spirit to come. That was at Pentecost.
• 48:22
  But then there was not a whole lot of waiting.
• 48:24
  There was some discerning and seeking the will of God, but not
• 48:28
  really like. I'm waiting on God to show up
• 48:30
  and do. Something not like God is
• 48:31
  typically already ahead of us, waiting.
• 48:34
  For us to. Act.
• 48:36
  And I think there's something beautiful about using common
• 48:39
  sense, using our our discernment and decision making to act and
• 48:44
  to follow God. God, God doesn't really wait on
• 48:47
  us, except for maybe the quote I heard said, like, man, when
• 48:51
  we're sinning, when we're in the wrong, when we're going the
• 48:53
  wrong way, God's going to wait for us to turn around.
• 48:56
  And even in that he's kind of actively waiting and, and, and
• 49:00
  wooing us, convincing us to come back to him so that we can keep
• 49:04
  following him. So, so God is moving.
• 49:07
  It's up to us to follow God on the move, and the one of the
• 49:11
  ways that we follow Him is by hearing His voice and
• 49:13
  responding. So I do think God speaks.
• 49:15
  I think it's more than just having common sense.
• 49:18
  In fact, the ways God speaks to us is the same way he spoke to
• 49:23
  people in that we see examples of we, we see #1 the word of God
• 49:28
  is God speaking to us. God will never lead us or guide
• 49:34
  us to something that is contrary to the truths and the character
• 49:39
  of God revealed in the Scripture.
• 49:43
  I also think. God speaks to us words from the
• 49:46
  Holy Spirit or through the Holy Spirit.
• 49:48
  Now words through the Holy Spirit can come to us, given to
• 49:53
  others. It can come from others to us.
• 49:57
  Things like prophecy, word of knowledge, word of Wisdom, even
• 50:02
  preaching today, I believe is a proclamation of things that God
• 50:07
  has said in His word contextualized and integratable
• 50:12
  into our life, life today so that we hear from the Lord.
• 50:15
  I, I really do. Again, it's not just because
• 50:17
  this is my role, but one of the things that God gives us
• 50:20
  shepherds to do is to teach the ways of God to help us discern
• 50:27
  God in our life and in our cultural moment.
• 50:31
  I think that that, that when you look at what a prophecy is in
• 50:37
  the New Testament, prophecy is encouraging and edifying the
• 50:41
  believer, strengthening the follower of God.
• 50:45
  What, what do we do when we're preaching the word and, and,
• 50:47
  and, and having messages on Sunday?
• 50:50
  We're hearing God, a message kind of from the heart of God
• 50:54
  for our our family unit to move us towards God, to encourage us
• 51:02
  and inspire. Us, that's what.
• 51:03
  Prophecy does so. Preaching of the word is a
• 51:06
  prophetic act in and of itself. It's not always just
• 51:09
  foretelling, but but rather it's revealing something that helps
• 51:13
  move us to the heart of God, moves us back to union with God.
• 51:18
  So words from the Spirit and inspiration in that way,
• 51:21
  preaching, prophecy, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, that
• 51:25
  that is a way God speaks to his people today.
• 51:29
  I believe that God speaks through inspiration of thoughts
• 51:33
  or kind of the Holy Spirit sensing or impression.
• 51:37
  There's a key phrase used a couple times in the book of Acts
• 51:40
  where it says they were trying to make a decision and big, big
• 51:46
  decision and it came down to this.
• 51:48
  It seems good to us and to the Holy Spirit, meaning this seems
• 51:53
  like it's common sense, it's logical, it's helpful, it's
• 51:56
  practical, it's a good solution, and it.
• 51:59
  Feel it seems. Like the Holy Spirit is agreeing
• 52:02
  and affirming. This way of of action, this next
• 52:06
  step. How do we know the Holy Spirit?
• 52:09
  There's a peace there. There's an assurance there.
• 52:11
  We know it lines up with the character of God.
• 52:14
  And the Holy Spirit is inspiring thoughts and impressions in our
• 52:17
  in our hearts and minds. That's how we hear God.
• 52:20
  I think that not only is it inspiration of thought or
• 52:24
  impression, it's also inspiration of an imagination.
• 52:26
  Sometimes I think God gives us pictures or or or or ways of
• 52:30
  seeing things that allow us to pray or understand something.
• 52:33
  That's God inspiring that. Think about it this way.
• 52:36
  How does the enemy lie to us? He whispers thoughts.
• 52:42
  How does God speak to us in truth?
• 52:44
  He whispers thoughts, inspires a way of our thinking.
• 52:49
  It's inspired thought. That's how God speaks primarily
• 52:53
  now in in the Old Testament and even in it seems like there's an
• 52:57
  audible voice of God. I've never heard it.
• 52:59
  I have had an encounter where it was so echoing in me it felt
• 53:05
  almost audible but. I knew it wasn't outside and it
• 53:08
  was inward. That's happened twice in my
• 53:10
  life. God speaks.
• 53:13
  Through dreams and God speaks through visions, that's biblical
• 53:17
  we see that as a biblical way in which God has has spoken New
• 53:21
  Testament and Old Testament it's been throughout Dreams are
• 53:26
  imaginative pictures or stories that come to mind while you're
• 53:30
  asleep a vision is something that happens during the.
• 53:33
  Daytime or when you are awake. And I've had both encounters,
• 53:38
  and I know many people have. God speaks in all.
• 53:41
  Of those ways, in fact, as we get.
• 53:45
  Into to, you know, chapter 1415 and 16.
• 53:49
  We'll see how the Holy Spirit leads and guides us into all,
• 53:54
  all truth. That's what the Holy Spirit
• 53:56
  does. In fact, it says that the Holy
• 53:58
  Spirit will remind us of all truth.
• 54:01
  That doesn't mean just the written words of God are are how
• 54:06
  he's going to remind us. No, like he's saying there's
• 54:10
  going to be an inspiration, a leading, a voice, almost an
• 54:14
  inner inner voice, an inner sensing and knowing.
• 54:17
  And I think we have to learn how to hear that.
• 54:19
  But God speaks more than just in common sense.
• 54:22
  While common sense is a gift from God, He's given us logic
• 54:26
  and reason and then the ability to do that.
• 54:27
  That's how he created us. He doesn't.
• 54:30
  Mean that he's left us just to that because if it were only up
• 54:35
  to good reason, Well, I think because people are led by their
• 54:41
  good reason, their good reason is both the knowledge of good
• 54:45
  and evil. Which is the tree that got us.
• 54:48
  Into all this trouble, to begin with, I don't believe we were
• 54:52
  supposed to be led by our logic. I think we were always supposed
• 54:55
  to be led by the voice of God, the voice of truth.
• 54:59
  See, God had spoken and given instruction, and instead of
• 55:02
  following the instruction of God, Adam and Eve decided to eat
• 55:06
  fruit so that they could have their own knowledge of good and
• 55:10
  evil, so that they could make their own determinations as
• 55:14
  their own God. In fact, it was the logic of
• 55:17
  themselves that led to the pride and downfall in the Garden as
• 55:21
  well. So I think the voice of God is
• 55:25
  incredibly important for us, and I think he speaks through
• 55:28
  Scripture. I think he thinks your words of
• 55:30
  the Spirit like prophecy, words of knowledge, words of wisdom as
• 55:33
  listed in First Corinthians 12 and 14.
• 55:36
  And I think it is an inspiration of thought or impressions of the
• 55:40
  Spirit. And then you have dreams and
• 55:41
  visions that also accompany those things at different times.
• 55:46
  Here's the next. Question how do you know his
• 55:48
  voice? Like how do I tell the
• 55:50
  difference between his voice? My own ideas or something the
• 55:53
  devil is saying but sounds really good so yeah, huge.
• 55:58
  At the end of the day, everything that we hear, every
• 56:01
  thing that we're sensing has to be.
• 56:02
  Tested. In fact, first, John tells us to
• 56:06
  test the spirits, to test the spirit of what we're hearing,
• 56:10
  sensing and being told. We need to test those things,
• 56:14
  not to. To to see if it really does pass
• 56:18
  the the test of God. So one of the ways I you learn
• 56:21
  to recognize or distinguish between the voice of the
• 56:24
  shepherd and the voice of the stranger is through the renewing
• 56:27
  of your mind and the scriptures. Why?
• 56:29
  Because nothing God will tell you will ever contradict the
• 56:31
  Scriptures. So the more you're in
• 56:33
  Scriptures, the more you know how God thinks and speaks in His
• 56:35
  will. So you can recollect.
• 56:37
  That's something the Father would say.
• 56:39
  That is definitely not something God would say.
• 56:43
  And and if you're left up to your own self, then you are
• 56:46
  continuing to live only according to your own knowledge
• 56:49
  of good and evil, and you're still living according to your
• 56:52
  own version of God and yourself. In other words, perhaps you've
• 56:54
  made yourself your own God, so your own human intellect and
• 56:57
  reasoning isn't the highest that there is, and you actually
• 57:00
  probably ought to. Repent on that level, but
• 57:04
  nonetheless, we have to. Renew our mind to the truth of
• 57:07
  Scripture. Another way that I've learned
• 57:09
  to. I recognize the voice of God,
• 57:12
  praying in the Spirit, praying in tongues and other spiritual
• 57:15
  practices really do strengthen my inner man, as Scripture says,
• 57:21
  so that my union, my communion with God is vibrant.
• 57:25
  It's strong, it's full of the life.
• 57:27
  And of faith. In God, but again, every word
• 57:30
  has to be. Tested.
• 57:31
  I think every voice in our life needs time to be tested.
• 57:35
  Every word that we get or we hear, every inspirational thing,
• 57:39
  it needs to be tested before it's trusted.
• 57:43
  So here's here's a process to walk through some some practical
• 57:48
  ways in which you can begin to learn to recognize the voice of
• 57:53
  God in your life. Number one, make space to hear
• 57:56
  God, make space, quiet your space, silence life, create the
• 58:02
  space and margin and just stop so that you can listen to God
• 58:05
  just like we did the end of service.
• 58:07
  Just pause. Holy Spirit, what do you want to
• 58:09
  say to me? Jesus, you're the voice of the
• 58:12
  Good Shepherd. You are my Good Shepherd.
• 58:14
  I can hear your voice. What is it you want to say
• 58:16
  today? And just pause and listen.
• 58:19
  And when you do, here's here's here's what you do when you
• 58:22
  think you're hearing something, write it down.
• 58:26
  Whatever it is silly might seem significant, might be one.
• 58:29
  Just write it down #2. Check the Scriptures and God's
• 58:33
  character. If what you're hearing kind of
• 58:36
  relates or connects to the to the Scripture or the character
• 58:39
  of God, then that's good. Again, the end of the day,
• 58:41
  Satan's not going to tell you to go be a blessing to somebody.
• 58:44
  It's just not in his character, but it is in the character of
• 58:46
  God. To pay for somebody else's meal,
• 58:48
  to be kind to them, to give forgiveness, right, To let that
• 58:52
  go. Like Satan's not going to do
• 58:54
  anything or lead you to do. Anything that's going to
• 58:58
  strengthen your union with God, right?
• 59:01
  So you kind of passed the sniff test of the character.
• 59:05
  Is it in God's character? Is it in line with the Scripture
• 59:08
  and the truth? And then go to the next thing
• 59:11
  I've learned to submit things that I'm hearing, seeing or
• 59:15
  sensing to trusted friends, to spiritual authorities even.
• 59:20
  I think that matters. I've done that recently.
• 59:24
  Hey, there's some things that I'm, I think God is speaking to
• 59:27
  me on some some bigger decisions and directions and I'm
• 59:31
  submitting it to elders. I'm submitting it to friends,
• 59:34
  getting them to weigh in and test that with me as we
• 59:39
  collectively are trying to discern what maybe God is saying
• 59:43
  to to us. So I submit it to.
• 59:45
  Trusted. Friends, spiritual authorities,
• 59:47
  give it some time. If, if it doesn't go away, if
• 59:50
  it's still there, if it's still kind of this thing that's
• 59:53
  reoccurring, that's probably God continuing to remind you and
• 59:57
  bring it up to you. Why?
• 59:57
  Because God wants you to know his voice.
• 1:00:00
  God wants you to walk in his ways.
• 1:00:01
  God wants you to follow him. So he's going to, he's patient.
• 1:00:05
  So give it some time. If it goes away, then it goes
• 1:00:09
  away. But if it's still there, if it's
• 1:00:10
  still present, if it's still something in your heart, man,
• 1:00:13
  that's important. And then finally, how do you
• 1:00:16
  just act on it? If God is giving, if you feel
• 1:00:19
  like God is saying something and it's an instruction of sorts,
• 1:00:22
  act on it. It's either going to produce
• 1:00:25
  something in God or God's going to create a learning experience
• 1:00:29
  in you. Either way, when you act, you
• 1:00:32
  begin to see, start following and you're like, that does not
• 1:00:35
  feel like God. I followed the wrong voice.
• 1:00:37
  OK, then you learn something, not a problem.
• 1:00:39
  Go back and start again. I think that's how I don't think
• 1:00:44
  we need to. Be so afraid.
• 1:00:47
  Of acting or responding some sort of things.
• 1:00:50
  I think over time, though, you develop a sensitivity and
• 1:00:54
  awareness like you just man, your mind has been renewed to
• 1:00:56
  scripture. And so you're like, man, that
• 1:00:58
  sounds like God. That's the character of God.
• 1:01:00
  This is what he would have for me.
• 1:01:01
  I'm going to, I'm going to step out in faith.
• 1:01:03
  And the more the more you do that, the more trained it
• 1:01:05
  becomes, more muscle memory than anything else.
• 1:01:09
  And that's what a practice does, practicing in in sports or in
• 1:01:14
  cooking or anything, you just get good get get some muscle
• 1:01:17
  memory at. That very thing.
• 1:01:20
  Same is true with hearing God. But the more you hear, the more
• 1:01:24
  you, the more often you sit and listen.
• 1:01:28
  And then you you write it down. And you share it with others and
• 1:01:31
  you check it against character of God and the scriptures and.
• 1:01:35
  Begin to act on it the the more muscle memory you have in
• 1:01:39
  recognizing his voice and are there.
• 1:01:45
  To this day I still do these. Many of these same checkpoints.
• 1:01:50
  It doesn't take me long to do them often, but there are there
• 1:01:55
  are moments and checkpoints. I'll give you an example.
• 1:02:00
  At the end of service, second service, we were just listening
• 1:02:04
  to Lord and as I was standing on the stage.
• 1:02:08
  This is not an abnormal thing. I've I've, I've had the Lord.
• 1:02:12
  Or the Holy Spirit bring up a gift, a gift of the Spirit, an
• 1:02:16
  expression of the Spirit, which is known as the Word of
• 1:02:20
  knowledge, information that he gives that I wouldn't have known
• 1:02:25
  otherwise. And so most often for me, the
• 1:02:29
  word of knowledge shows up in paired with a gift of healing.
• 1:02:33
  So I was on just listening, standing there, and I just began
• 1:02:40
  to realize, I think God. Is healing someone's someone's
• 1:02:44
  leg? And I just felt like the Lord
• 1:02:45
  was saying I'm healing someone's right leg in the knee leg area.
• 1:02:50
  And I sat with it for a second. I just was like, I don't know
• 1:02:53
  that that's true. I mean, it's in his character.
• 1:02:55
  Does God like to heal? Sure he does.
• 1:02:57
  Do I? Know that someone is in the
• 1:02:59
  room. That has a leg problem.
• 1:03:00
  No, No idea. It's likely have no idea.
• 1:03:05
  He would know, I wouldn't know. And I'm sitting there processing
• 1:03:08
  in real time with the Lord and it just didn't go away.
• 1:03:11
  I knew it was in his character. I knew it was time.
• 1:03:13
  No, I didn't have time to go submit it to authorities.
• 1:03:16
  I just kind of was like, Lord, I'm, I'm going to go go out on a
• 1:03:20
  limb and just trust you. I did give it some time.
• 1:03:23
  It wasn't a long period of time. I didn't say it as soon as I
• 1:03:26
  heard it. I I waited for, for for for a
• 1:03:29
  few. Seconds took a beat and just.
• 1:03:31
  Lord, is that you? At the end of the day, here's
• 1:03:33
  the decision I made. What's the worst thing that can
• 1:03:36
  happen? Nobody's out there that needs
• 1:03:40
  their leg healed. And God, I just thought I heard.
• 1:03:44
  It, but I didn't hear it. Cool.
• 1:03:45
  I learned, I recognized I I would rather walk in obedience
• 1:03:50
  to share what I sense God is saying, even if it's not.
• 1:03:53
  Exactly right then I would be to miss entirely.
• 1:03:58
  What God is saying in the moment.
• 1:04:01
  And so I would rather act in a way that would produce the life
• 1:04:05
  of God or the goodness of God. Or people could experience God
• 1:04:07
  than than not. I wasn't trying to manipulate
• 1:04:09
  something. We didn't wait a long time.
• 1:04:11
  I just said it in gentle passing.
• 1:04:13
  Hey I believe God's healing someone's leg right now.
• 1:04:16
  Jesus is binding up that broken. Pain in your life and your leg
• 1:04:20
  right now. I just believe in faith that he
• 1:04:22
  is. And that's you just.
• 1:04:25
  Learn over time. It's repetition and practice.
• 1:04:29
  Here's the you have to 1st be convinced of the truth that what
• 1:04:33
  Jesus said in John 10 is true. He's the Good Shepherd.
• 1:04:38
  He speaks to his sheep. His sheep can hear his voice and
• 1:04:42
  they follow it. They know it and they follow it.
• 1:04:45
  If that's true and I'm his sheep.
• 1:04:48
  And he's my shepherd. That means he wants to speak.
• 1:04:52
  I can know His voice and I can follow His voice, so I'm just
• 1:04:56
  going to lean into that and live into that.
• 1:04:59
  But those are some of the ways I've learned to distinguish
• 1:05:03
  between my voice, the enemy's voice, or God's voice.
• 1:05:07
  It's just been a process of learning.
• 1:05:09
  But doing those steps, here's the next question.
• 1:05:12
  How do I know the difference between being stalled and just
• 1:05:15
  being in a gap? It's a huge question, really
• 1:05:19
  important. We've talked a little bit about
• 1:05:20
  stalled and gaps and things like that.
• 1:05:23
  I'll just say this. Both are realized when progress
• 1:05:26
  towards life in God has halted in some way.
• 1:05:29
  You're either stalled because you're not progressing or
• 1:05:32
  there's a gap and something is kind of.
• 1:05:35
  Missing that would help. You.
• 1:05:38
  In your progress towards an abundant, flourishing life in
• 1:05:41
  God, one has to. Do with our laziness or our
• 1:05:45
  apathy being stalled and the other a gap has to do with
• 1:05:50
  development or ability to accomplish an assignment.
• 1:05:54
  God has given an assignment. He's asked you to do something,
• 1:05:57
  but you don't have the ability to do it.
• 1:06:00
  God comes and fills what is missing, so His strength is made
• 1:06:05
  perfect in your weakness, in your gap.
• 1:06:08
  So for me the difference between being stalled is I don't have.
• 1:06:15
  The discipline, I'm not actually developing.
• 1:06:18
  I'm apathetic, I'm lazy. I'm just ignoring, not walking
• 1:06:21
  in obedience. So I've stalled out versus a gap
• 1:06:25
  where I don't have the ability, I don't have the power, I don't
• 1:06:29
  have the strength to fill in that gap, to close that gap.
• 1:06:33
  I have a weakness that I need His strength to fill.
• 1:06:36
  That's something God does. He fills in the gaps I have to
• 1:06:41
  get out of being stalled in my lazy or apathetic pursuit of
• 1:06:46
  God. Let me give you some practical
• 1:06:47
  examples. There's a time in my life where
• 1:06:50
  I just realized I didn't have very many rich, deep friendships
• 1:06:55
  there had. Some that had.
• 1:06:57
  Been in my life that had left my life and I was finding myself
• 1:07:00
  just feeling pity. And I was stalled in spiritual
• 1:07:04
  relationship and it wasn't until I decided to get started in
• 1:07:09
  building friendships that real relationships began to occur in
• 1:07:12
  my life. I was stalled, but that stall
• 1:07:16
  wasn't because I had a gap. That stall was because I was
• 1:07:18
  apathetic. I was hurt, I was lazy, and I
• 1:07:20
  just didn't want to get started. I didn't want to risk it so I
• 1:07:25
  stopped getting stalled. Once I started again.
• 1:07:29
  So that's how I got unstuck. That's the difference between
• 1:07:32
  being stolen. A gap.
• 1:07:33
  Here's, here's an example of a gap.
• 1:07:35
  Our building, our building project, we, we're trying to
• 1:07:38
  save $1,000,000 as a church so that we can begin building an
• 1:07:44
  expansion for our, our facility. There's a gap there.
• 1:07:49
  We don't have the funds yet. I don't have the funds yet.
• 1:07:52
  There's a gap. There's something God has given
• 1:07:54
  us as an assignment to do and there is a gap in the middle and
• 1:07:57
  I'm trusting God to fill in that gap financially so.
• 1:08:02
  That we can move forward with what we believe He is a sign for
• 1:08:06
  us to do. Gaps and being stalled are
• 1:08:09
  different, but they both are realized.
• 1:08:12
  We come to see them when something in our life stops
• 1:08:17
  progressing. Toward the life.
• 1:08:18
  Of abundant life in God that we long for.
• 1:08:23
  Here's our last question. Today and it's.
• 1:08:25
  One that I want to be very caring and and kind with.
• 1:08:30
  You mentioned at the end of service something about bringing
• 1:08:33
  some things up this week that didn't you didn't know we're
• 1:08:36
  still in your heart. How did you deal with that?
• 1:08:39
  Sometimes I feel like when I gave my life over to Christ, I
• 1:08:42
  surrendered the heaviest weight at the time, but had so many
• 1:08:45
  other things come to the surface since then that make me question
• 1:08:49
  even my salvation. Like were those things not quote
• 1:08:52
  UN quote washed away such? A good articulation of this
• 1:08:57
  question. I think many of us can relate to
• 1:09:00
  that sense. Like, oh man, did I not really
• 1:09:03
  let Jesus heal this or redeem this?
• 1:09:06
  Am I not even saved? I think we've all kind of had
• 1:09:09
  those honest moments. First, let me just say kind of
• 1:09:14
  pose a question. What?
• 1:09:15
  What is? Salvation.
• 1:09:17
  Not what is salvation in our American idea or our Western
• 1:09:22
  understanding, but salvation according to Scripture.
• 1:09:27
  Let me give you. Kind of a working.
• 1:09:28
  Definition for salvation because there's a lot of things for for
• 1:09:32
  many people we think salvation is I'm going to heaven instead
• 1:09:36
  of hell, or salvation is I prayed a prayer so I'm a
• 1:09:39
  Christian versus those who haven't prayed a prayer aren't
• 1:09:43
  Christians. And and and.
• 1:09:45
  I think that the way the Bible talks about salvation is much
• 1:09:50
  more broad than it is transactional.
• 1:09:54
  So. So let me say it this way, I I
• 1:09:55
  think that the work of God through the Holy Spirit to
• 1:09:59
  deliver us from the Kingdom of the world into the and bring us
• 1:10:04
  into the Kingdom of heaven through the sacrifice of Jesus
• 1:10:08
  is the saving work of God, salvation.
• 1:10:12
  Most often in the New Testament the word save, say salvation,
• 1:10:18
  save, save. That sort of thing In the New
• 1:10:20
  Testament is the Greek word sozo, which means to rescue and
• 1:10:25
  deliver. So instead of saying the word
• 1:10:28
  salvation, say the word deliver. And that begins to help reorient
• 1:10:32
  our thinking. It means to rescue from
• 1:10:36
  something. The the question is.
• 1:10:39
  Delivered from what or unto what redeemed?
• 1:10:43
  In. What way I I love the language
• 1:10:47
  in the New Testament around adoption and ownership transfer,
• 1:10:53
  which is really what redemption means, that there was something
• 1:10:57
  that belonged to you that. Someone took from you and you
• 1:11:02
  had to go buy it back or get it back into your ownership, your
• 1:11:06
  possession, your family lineage and heritage.
• 1:11:10
  A possession of sorts. That's what the word.
• 1:11:13
  Redeemed means to buy back or bring back.
• 1:11:18
  So in the deliverance of God, the redemption that Jesus
• 1:11:22
  provides through His work on the cross that the Spirit applies
• 1:11:27
  into our lives is what that He is bringing us back into the
• 1:11:33
  Kingdom of God Better set another way in the framework of
• 1:11:37
  John 10, He is bringing us into His flock so that we can have a
• 1:11:44
  union with Him, we can know Him, we can have communion with
• 1:11:51
  Father, Son, and Spirit. This is what Jesus is saying and
• 1:11:56
  John 10 that He has come to bring us into union with God.
• 1:12:01
  That's what it is happening. That's what's occurring now.
• 1:12:05
  Some theologians have said it that there's an immediate
• 1:12:08
  justification with our salvation, there's an ongoing
• 1:12:10
  sanctification of our salvation, and there's an eventual
• 1:12:14
  recreation through resurrection life that we encounter of
• 1:12:17
  salvation. So so the.
• 1:12:20
  Deliverance of God is not just anyone single thing, it's a
• 1:12:24
  myriad of things. It's a whole category of things.
• 1:12:29
  It's a, it's a full scope of something.
• 1:12:32
  So oftentimes the way we talk about salvation, I think is way
• 1:12:36
  too narrow. Versus the way the Scripture
• 1:12:39
  talks about it in a much broader sense.
• 1:12:41
  And we need to hold hold that I think well, so that we don't
• 1:12:45
  find ourselves in a moment saying I'm not even saved, like
• 1:12:48
  it didn't even work. I God's not really in me.
• 1:12:51
  No, he really is. But there is a ongoing work that
• 1:12:55
  God is doing, which is why the New Testament writers, Paul and
• 1:12:58
  Peter, in particular, John, spend a lot of time talking
• 1:13:02
  about the perseverance of the Saints of God that that if we
• 1:13:06
  continue in our loyalty to him, we will be saved.
• 1:13:09
  In other words, if we keep following the voice of the
• 1:13:11
  shepherd, we are going to be safe in him.
• 1:13:14
  Like like there is this this life lived following the voice
• 1:13:18
  of the shepherd, which is what he wants for us.
• 1:13:21
  Again, think about Jesus word. He did not say come and be
• 1:13:24
  saved. It's not Jesus doesn't really
• 1:13:27
  preach that. That wasn't his invitation.
• 1:13:29
  His invitation was more more active, more ongoing, less
• 1:13:35
  static. He says come and follow me.
• 1:13:39
  He says the invitation of Jesus wasn't come and get saved.
• 1:13:42
  It was an invitation to repent, to believe and to follow.
• 1:13:47
  To repent to. Recognize that you're not
• 1:13:49
  following God as Lord in your life that he's not Yahweh to
• 1:13:53
  repent, to turn around to believe that he is Yahweh, that
• 1:13:57
  Jesus is the Son of God, the saving King, that he is the the
• 1:14:01
  line of David, the inheritance and the fulfillment of all
• 1:14:03
  things prophesied to and that he brings resurrection life to you
• 1:14:08
  and the Good Shepherd that can heal you, care for you, lead
• 1:14:12
  you, guide you, protect you and bring eternal life and abundant
• 1:14:16
  life into your life. Believe that about Jesus in in
• 1:14:20
  not only intellect and heart, but in how you live your life.
• 1:14:23
  Your trust is embodied in following him and that's the
• 1:14:27
  third he says just follow me. Keep following after him.
• 1:14:31
  In fact, the more. I follow.
• 1:14:32
  Jesus, the more I experience his wholeness, the more I experience
• 1:14:38
  his freedom, the more I experience his Sozo, His
• 1:14:43
  deliverance out of an old way of life into a new identity in him,
• 1:14:50
  the. Moment of our.
• 1:14:51
  Trust in Him all of heaven was accessible to us.
• 1:14:55
  All that God has becomes. Ours in the.
• 1:14:57
  Person of the Spirit, that's what the saving work of God
• 1:15:01
  really happens is when the the spirit comes into our heart.
• 1:15:04
  There is a a moment where we receive the Spirit in US and the
• 1:15:09
  spirit, Peter says, has everything that we need
• 1:15:12
  pertaining to life, ungodliness. So we have full access to it.
• 1:15:17
  We just don't always experience it in full in that exact moment.
• 1:15:24
  So this is the difference between having your sins washed
• 1:15:28
  away, as you kind of said in your your statement, which is
• 1:15:32
  how in the West we talk about being born again, having a
• 1:15:37
  regenerated heart. Or if I could say it this way,
• 1:15:40
  where we have received the Holy Spirit in US like Ezekiel and
• 1:15:45
  the bones that were dead that come to life because the ruach,
• 1:15:48
  the breath, the Spirit of God enters and it becomes a living
• 1:15:52
  being again. So we were dead in our
• 1:15:56
  alienation, rebellion from God. The Spirit breathes into us,
• 1:15:59
  There's a new birth, a regeneration of our heart and we
• 1:16:01
  become animated in him. We live, move and find our being
• 1:16:04
  that's having our sins washed away.
• 1:16:07
  That's what we mean by that. So there is a difference between
• 1:16:09
  having your sins washed away and.
• 1:16:12
  Having your feet. Washed we're we'll talk about
• 1:16:16
  this and I think it's John 13 where Jesus washes the disciples
• 1:16:21
  feet and Jesus says listen, if you're already clean, you don't
• 1:16:26
  need your whole self clean you. Just need to clean your feet.
• 1:16:31
  This is the. The ongoing work of repentance.
• 1:16:34
  This is the ongoing work of surrender.
• 1:16:36
  This is the ongoing work of getting really, really close to
• 1:16:40
  the Shepherd so that he can heal, mend and clean your
• 1:16:47
  wounds. That the the wounds can become
• 1:16:50
  scars that have been healed. By the love of your Good
• 1:16:53
  Shepherd. So there's a difference between
• 1:16:55
  having sins washed away, being receiving the new birth, and the
• 1:16:59
  life of the Spirit in you being, as we would refer to you as
• 1:17:02
  being saved. Even though I think that it's
• 1:17:05
  not really accurate terminology according to the Scripture.
• 1:17:08
  But we've received the new birth adoption like that part which
• 1:17:12
  you've talked about in your question.
• 1:17:14
  Like that happened at the moment you surrender to Christ for the
• 1:17:17
  first time. Like he took the weight of your
• 1:17:19
  sin, the punishment of it all, the all all of those things
• 1:17:22
  washed away. And there's a difference between
• 1:17:25
  that and having your feet washed because.
• 1:17:27
  Your feet are always going to get.
• 1:17:28
  Dirty. Why?
• 1:17:28
  Because you're walking in a dirty world.
• 1:17:30
  You're walking in a wounded world.
• 1:17:32
  That there. That's the difference.
• 1:17:34
  And so the redemptive formation is essential.
• 1:17:38
  It's the the the sanctifying work of God.
• 1:17:40
  It's the cleansing work of God. It's the ongoing healing and
• 1:17:44
  freedom that we need in our lives, the ongoing deliverance
• 1:17:47
  that deliver us from the evil 1 Lord prayer.
• 1:17:51
  It's the formation that is redemptive in nature.
• 1:17:55
  It is the don't be conformed to the patterns of the world, but
• 1:18:00
  be transformed. By the renewing of your mind
• 1:18:03
  kind of thing, what what is happening in that moment is
• 1:18:06
  we're being washed by the water of the living water.
• 1:18:11
  Of God being freed from him being, full of him being
• 1:18:16
  satisfied in him being. Was stored in him where the dirt
• 1:18:20
  and the grime of life, life even following Jesus comes and heals
• 1:18:28
  us, cleans us, washes it so that our union with him is clean.
• 1:18:34
  I'm going to keep using this connection metaphor.
• 1:18:37
  If you connect to the source, sometimes the connection isn't
• 1:18:41
  good and you have to take pull it out and like clean the
• 1:18:44
  connection of a power source because it's just kind of gotten
• 1:18:48
  used in dirt and Grammy. But when you plug into the right
• 1:18:50
  source, man, it, it begins to the, the the power of the
• 1:18:53
  connection is stronger. That's what we're doing.
• 1:18:55
  We're we're getting our feet washed.
• 1:18:58
  What I was referring to in my. Life specifically were really
• 1:19:02
  two areas. One was a deeper wound that I
• 1:19:07
  hadn't really another layer of it.
• 1:19:11
  God had done some things. There'd been some forgiveness in
• 1:19:13
  my life, some healing in my life, some wholeness that had
• 1:19:17
  come, but there was still deeper under the surface impacts and
• 1:19:23
  responses that I had in my life where I was acting out of a
• 1:19:27
  place of unhealed immaturity because that.
• 1:19:31
  Was the age at which I had experienced that traumatic
• 1:19:35
  event, which again tells us that when anytime trauma happens,
• 1:19:40
  this is neuroscience and and and therapy tells us that when
• 1:19:44
  trauma happens, pain occurs. There's a fragmentation that
• 1:19:47
  happens within us and when that fragmentation or that pain or
• 1:19:50
  that trauma happens, we kind of always act out of emotionally
• 1:19:55
  that age and stage that we were in when that happens.
• 1:19:58
  So happened when you were 12 years old, as was my case, all
• 1:20:02
  of a sudden you find yourself there are when that sore area
• 1:20:07
  gets triggered or or kind of re hit, you react emotionally at
• 1:20:11
  that kind of age and stage. And so you just need to go.
• 1:20:14
  Back and let. Jesus heal and see and know and
• 1:20:17
  love that space. That's a lot of kind of some of
• 1:20:20
  the inner healing work that happens.
• 1:20:21
  But they're also the second thing for me this week that was
• 1:20:24
  really true. As I was getting in the
• 1:20:26
  scripture, I was just realizing the thieves, robbers and hired
• 1:20:30
  hands that that the wounds that as a shepherd I've experienced.
• 1:20:36
  Because. I've been head butted by so many
• 1:20:38
  sheep. And to stand up.
• 1:20:41
  As a shepherd and to say again and again, God loves you, we
• 1:20:44
  love you, we want to care for you, we want you to experience
• 1:20:47
  God. While at the same time there are
• 1:20:49
  so many that I've spent hours tending to and caring for only
• 1:20:55
  to one day have them head butt you and hurt you and harm you
• 1:20:59
  and to think evil about you. There were just some things that
• 1:21:04
  I recognize I hadn't yet named or released to Jesus.
• 1:21:09
  And this was how he There was just some dirty feet and he
• 1:21:13
  needed to wash them in me this week.
• 1:21:15
  And it was a very cleansing, free and good time.
• 1:21:19
  But man, there was some. Some.
• 1:21:21
  Dirt that had. Dried.
• 1:21:22
  On my feet, if I could use that illustration that Jesus just was
• 1:21:25
  really like power washing and it almost was painful.
• 1:21:28
  But in a good way. At the end of the day, it's.
• 1:21:31
  Not that we are unregenerated or our hearts aren't saved, no, no,
• 1:21:35
  the the deliverance of God is still happening.
• 1:21:38
  Our hearts have still been, we still have the Holy Spirit in
• 1:21:41
  us, but we all are in process of healing, wholeness and becoming
• 1:21:45
  radiant. And that's why we need the
• 1:21:47
  tender voice of our Good Shepherd.
• 1:21:50
  To listen to. To bring caring, identity and
• 1:21:53
  restoration to our hearts. To wash our feet, to dry our
• 1:21:57
  wounds. To.
• 1:21:58
  To mend up our broken fragments that we've experienced as we've
• 1:22:02
  lived this life. The damage.
• 1:22:05
  Done to our hearts, to our souls, to our memories, to our
• 1:22:08
  bodies. All the things He can come and
• 1:22:09
  heal and mend those things like a Good Shepherd does.
• 1:22:13
  We need His. Voice and as His sheep, we can
• 1:22:16
  hear Him, we can know Him, and we can follow Him into abundant
• 1:22:22
  union and life with Father, Son and Spirit.
• 1:22:28
  Friends. That's it for today, I hope.
• 1:22:30
  This has been helpful just to know you are deeply loved by God
• 1:22:34
  and by us. I'll see you next week.