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Transcript

John 10 | Good Shepherd · The Salt Company - Denton

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Guys, welcome if we haven't met.
0:01
SPEAKER_00: Uh, my name is Zach.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: First time getting to come here on a Thursday night this semester.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I love what God is doing uh here at Salt Company.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: Can't believe uh Salt Company is one year old.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh and guys, this is not normal.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: It's very special what God is doing here at UNT and uh TW.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: Go pop in yours.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's gonna be a great night.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: If you have a Bible, we're gonna be in John chapter 10.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Uh John chapter 10 as we continue through the I am statements of John.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: But before we jump in, uh since fall retreat is coming up, and you you all should sign up, uh, and because the dance theme and the dance party is gonna be awesome uh with DJ uh Tyson in the back, I thought we'd start tonight with a little bit of fun uh playing a little game, okay?
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh a song competition, uh if you will.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like uh Shazam, okay?
0:47
SPEAKER_00: It's quite simple.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and I texted the SALT staff this morning, 12 hours ago, and I said, guys, I want you to pick five songs that you think people in this room are gonna know based on the first two seconds of the song, okay?
0:58
SPEAKER_00: And here's how it's gonna work, okay?
1:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna have Avelyn in the back play it.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: First one to shout it out based on recognizing it wins, okay?
1:05
SPEAKER_00: First one amongst your friends, okay?
1:06
SPEAKER_00: You sound good?
1:07
SPEAKER_00: Make sense?
1:07
SPEAKER_00: Okay, listen carefully.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, we started easy.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: They started easy.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: I told them we gotta go harder, okay?
1:18
SPEAKER_00: You'll get to that one.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Guys, I that's my son's favorite song in movies.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm maybe put that in, okay?
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Easy.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: We had a winner over here, though.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Then basketball.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: Chiada.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: From from deep.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay, keep going.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: Um harder, harder.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we gotta do a harder one.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Evelyn, go ahead.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Oh, had that.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's a good time hard.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: Billy Jean, I think is that one.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, keep going.
1:49
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we have some more.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: Dreams, somebody had that.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, is that it?
1:57
SPEAKER_00: Was that a bit?
1:58
SPEAKER_00: Oh, give you it up, guys, give it up.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, well done.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: Well done.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: Okay, here's what I start there, okay?
2:03
SPEAKER_00: Um a little bit of fun here.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Guys, I start there because it's crazy, uh, especially dreams.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: That's a very difficult one.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's crazy how quick uh we can recognize a song based on just the first note, first string of beats here.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: It's uh just because we've listened to it so many times, uh, it's amazing.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh, whether it's music or maybe uh you guys can quote movies or it's famous lines from a movie, like it's it's incredible what our minds can do with something we recognize, something we've listened to a lot.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and we can do this not just with songs, but with movies, people we know.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: And what's interesting about this, even though you guys don't know Rascal Flats personally, uh you do know his voice, uh the guy's voice, and you don't know him, whether it's a celebrity or a song or an actor.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: We can know a lot about people, we can know a lot of songs, but they do not know us, and we don't really know them.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: You know, I learned this week that Ashley Birkenbosch's uh celebrity crush is Brock Purdy, okay?
3:02
SPEAKER_00: And and guys, Ashley can tell you a lot of facts about Brock Purdy.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest, it's a little bit strange and scary.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: His kids' names, she can tell you.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: But guys, can I tell you this?
3:12
SPEAKER_00: Brock Purdy does not know Ashley, okay?
3:15
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to know someone, but it's another thing for them to know you.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: And here's why I start there tonight, because Jesus is gonna do something for us in John 10.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: And he's gonna talk about his voice in a similar way, but very different than just music on uh the speakers, okay?
3:31
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna talk about knowing his voice.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: As Christians, do we know his voice?
3:36
SPEAKER_00: But it's more than just knowing some facts about him, it's more than just knowing some verses in the Bible, but he's gonna talk about a relationship that is so intimate, uh, a relationship that's so personal, that the only metaphor he's gonna use to describe this kind of relationship is that of a shepherd and a sheep.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and I grew up in church my whole life, okay?
4:00
SPEAKER_00: I've heard about this whole shepherd and sheep thing all the time, okay?
4:03
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 23, you guys know this one?
4:05
SPEAKER_00: The Lord is my shepherd, okay?
4:07
SPEAKER_00: I've been knowing this my whole life.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay, if you're new to Christianity, you gotta know this is a thing here, okay?
4:11
SPEAKER_00: The shepherd, the sheep.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: God is our shepherd and we are the sheep, right?
4:15
SPEAKER_00: Like this is a thing.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: Well, my whole life growing up in church, I'll be honest, like my view of God was not that of like a little shepherd walker with me, but I always thought of God as this high up, like super far away, distant, like judge in the sky, and like like my grandfather knew God, the pastor knew God, but to be honest, like my view of God was not one that was close, but very far away.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: But guys, Jesus is gonna do something very different tonight.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna take that whole shepherd sheep language, but he's gonna push it down deeper into your heart, and he's gonna say something that is absolutely outrageous.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say, God is the shepherd.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: No, he's gonna say in John 10, I am the good shepherd.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: And guys, that is a really outrageous claim, if you understand the context of what he says.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: And tonight, here's all I want to do as Jesus says he's the good shepherd.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: I want to ask the question, is that true?
5:11
SPEAKER_00: Like, is Jesus a good shepherd?
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Or here's the better question: what makes the good shepherd good?
5:18
SPEAKER_00: Sound good?
5:18
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're gonna look at in John 10.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: Let's let's start it in John 10, verse 1.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: That's the question.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: John 10, verse 1.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: If you got it, say, got it.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: You guys with me here?
5:28
SPEAKER_00: I know we're going crazy.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Okay, verse 1, it says this.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: Truly I tell you, Jesus says, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: The gatekeeper opens it for him, the sheep hear his voice, he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: And when he has brought all of his sheep outside, he goes ahead of them.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: The sheep follow him because they know his voice.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: They never follow a stranger.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: Instead, they will run away from him because they don't know the voice of strangers.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6, Jesus gave them this figure of speech, this metaphor, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's stop there.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: Before we jump any further, uh, you're gonna need a little bit of context here.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: Okay, John 10 comes right after John 9, obviously, and in John chapter 9, Jesus is gonna heal a blind man.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and it's this unbelievable, unbelievable miracle.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay, this guy couldn't see from birth.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: Jesus heals him.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and instead of celebrating, like everybody in the room should do if that happens, there's this group of people called the Pharisees, and they don't celebrate this, but instead they start to interrogate this.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay, they bring the man in and they start to question him, then they bring his parents in, they start to question him, and then they have the audacity to bring Jesus in and start to question him, and they claim he doesn't come from God.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus, and they send the man out, and so Jesus responds with all of that interrogation uh with John chapter 10.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: And it's really this rebuke, like this smack talk in the form of a metaphor.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: And you can see it here.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: He says there's two kinds of people leading sheep.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh, one uh is a thief and a robber, and the Pharisees, if you guys know the Old Testament, the Pharisees were supposed to be the shepherds of God's people.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: They were supposed to be the ones that stay with them, that lead them, but instead he calls them thieves and robbers because they ditch the sheep.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: But then in contrast, he says, I am the good shepherd.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: And you can see the first thing that makes the good shepherd good.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse three again.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: Verse three.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay, if I'm you, I'm underlining that phrase.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: He calls his own sheep by name.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you want to know the first thing that makes the good shepherd good?
8:06
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd knows the sheep.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd knows his sheep.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and more than that, he doesn't just know them, it says what?
8:16
SPEAKER_00: He calls them out by name.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that's a big deal.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's gonna be hard for me on this rainy Thursday to overemphasize how important that is, okay?
8:25
SPEAKER_00: You guys ever been called by the wrong name?
8:27
SPEAKER_00: Like somebody mispronounce it, they call you by the wrong name, or maybe you go to Starbucks, okay, pumpkin spice latte season, and they like butcher your name on the cup, and you're like, whoa, is that on purpose?
8:38
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Like there's something going on here.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: There's something about someone's name that's very important to them.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay, science that study brains, like they they notice that when someone's name is said, their brain lights up.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you can be in a room like this after salt, and a hundred conversations are going on.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: And if one dude in that corner yells your name, you're gonna stop everything and you're gonna turn because your name is important to you.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus here, as he talks about the good shepherd, notice it doesn't say the shepherd like calls out generally to the sheep, like vaguely, like, hey, you, all of you, giddy up, or like whatever they say to sheep.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, he doesn't say that.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: I had they whistle, I guess.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what they do, but it says, notice, he calls them by name.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: And you learn something about Jesus here, guys.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just know about the flock, he knows the sheep.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: And he doesn't just know the sheep, he knows the sheep by name.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: And I'm trying to get you to realize this, like and bring it down.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: Like, if you're a Christian, can I say this?
9:37
SPEAKER_00: This is how Jesus relates to you.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: That if you're a Christian here, like if you responded to faith, like if you can remember when you came to faith in Christ, like whether it was the last few weeks or you were 10 years old, like whenever you came to faith, whenever he called out and you were convicted of your sin and you saw Jesus on the cross and you went all in on belief of Jesus, that he died and rose again.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: Like any, whenever that happened, and he called to you, you and you answered, can I tell you, Jesus in that moment, he didn't just say, Hey, you come.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: No, he said, Hey, Trey, come.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: This is what he says.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: Hey Maurice, come.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: He calls you by name.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: Can you see this?
10:17
SPEAKER_00: It's very specific.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not call people generally, he calls you specifically.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: He does this in the Bible, right?
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Lazarus, come forth.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: Levi, follow me.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: Saul Saul, why are you persecuting me?
10:31
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it?
10:32
SPEAKER_00: And guys, there's something very powerful about the fact that as you sit here tonight, he knows your name.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Because, guys, biblically speaking, like a name is not just a description for who you are.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Like, like a word, like a collection of sounds that you're known by.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: No, a name is deeper than this.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Like a name, like in your name biblically, it wraps up all of who you are, the good and the bad.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: So when it says that Jesus knows your name, guys, he knows all of you.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: He knows the good things about you that he celebrates and he smiles upon, but also, guys, he knows the bad.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: He knows your sin.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: He knows your failures, he knows the things that you regret.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: Like he knows the parts of your story that you wish you could rewrite.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says he knows the number of hairs on your head, he knows the number of days in your life, he knows the dreams that you've never told anybody, he knows the wounds in your family, he knows the divorce that changed everything.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: He knows what's in your browser history, he knows what you did last weekend.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: Guys, he knows, and yet he still calls you by name.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: And that's what gets me about the shepherd here.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: Like he doesn't just love some future cleaned up version of you.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: No, he loves you today.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: He knows you and he calls you by name.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: Because, guys, if you get if you want to understand Christianity, it starts with this before you knew Jesus, the shepherd, Jesus, knew you.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: He knows us.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: Which leads me to my second point.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Go back to verse three.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Because he doesn't just know you, which is very powerful, fellas, but he also does something else.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse three again.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says he calls his own sheep by name.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: And what does he do?
12:16
SPEAKER_00: He leads them out.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: And then verse four, it says, when he has brought all of them outside, he goes ahead of them.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: The sheep follow him because they know his voice.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay, can you see it?
12:27
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd doesn't just know his sheep, he leads his sheep.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: He leads them, he goes before them.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's what makes him good.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: He goes ahead of his sheep.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: Like Jesus is the guy we're following, the shepherd in all this world, like he's the voice we're listening to.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: Like in a world of other voices that are calling out for your attention and to be your leader and to be your shepherd in life, as Christians, we follow the good shepherd.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it kind of reminds me of this game, uh, this very stupid game uh that I used to do back when I was the assault director at Michigan State.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Long story short, stick with me here, it gets crazy.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Uh, similar to Fall Retreat, uh, we would do these games with our leaders.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh, they were just stupid uh games, like, you know, teamwork, bonding, make a memory.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Well, anyways, uh, one year we were trying to knock off Survivor.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: Do we have any Survivor fans in the house?
13:17
SPEAKER_00: Okay, don't ruin it.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: Didn't watch it this week.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, there's this game in Survivor that we tried to mimic, okay?
13:22
SPEAKER_00: And so we took two people from every team, I think there were like four teams, and one person on the team was the caller, and the other person on the team was blindfolded.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: And with this person who was blindfolded, we also put a trash bag over their clothes, and we handed them a watermelon that was covered in baby oil, okay?
13:41
SPEAKER_00: Slippery.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: Just imagine this very slippery large melon.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, and the point of the game was this the caller would yell out to his guy to navigate a series of obstacles and make it to the end.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and it's just absolute craziness, guys.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you got these people blindfolded, bumping into things, and what made it worse is this.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Everybody else on our leadership team formed a circle, and they're also all yelling out, go this way, go that way, and it's just chaos.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: You had no idea what's going on.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: And uh the way this game ends, like if my pastor found out, I'd have gotten fired.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the way that you ended this game is with your watermelon, we had the baptism tank at the end, like the horse trough.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: And the only way to win this game was the blindfolded person had to baptize their watermelon uh in the back, like blindfolded, and these guys are like falling in, there's water going everywhere, it's madness.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, picture the scene here, it's just crazy.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: And I share all that to say that is a perfect picture of how we uh live our lives and lead our lives.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because all of us, if we're being honest and if we're being humble, we're all kind of like that blindfolded person.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Like we think we can see ahead.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: Like we think we can know the future, like what's in front of us.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: We're trying to hold our life together like that watermelon.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: We're trying to learn how to navigate life and relationships and money and career and sex and all these different things.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: And we're trying to hold it all together just like this watermelon.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: And as we're trying to navigate life and we're just bumping into people, bumping into things, you got all these voices that are calling out to your life, go this way, go that way.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: And all the while we're just trying to make it to the end.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: And all these voices, guys, they're not just voices we listen to, they're voices that are leading us.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: They're directing our lives, they're navigating our lives.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: And here's why I share all that, guys.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: You have made it to the point in life, you are in college, where you need to start asking this question.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: What voices am I listening to?
15:38
SPEAKER_00: Like, what voices in life in this very loud world am I turning the volume up on?
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Like, what am I listening to?
15:45
SPEAKER_00: What am I following?
15:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm not sure what you listen to, man.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, whether it's podcast or YouTube or TikTok or maybe TV shows that teach you like what love should look like.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh, maybe it's people in your dorm.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, that was me back in college.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's your parents, your old friends.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: But the point is this uh you are being led.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: The question is not, are you being led?
16:06
SPEAKER_00: It's what's leading you.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and you have to know this, guys.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Bad leadership leads to destruction.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you are never gonna thrive in life with bad leadership.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: Trust me, I'm a Dallas Cowboy fan.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I know this intimately.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: We will never be good.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: We will never win the Super Bowl with Jerry Jones at the helm or his son.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're just not gonna do it.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Bad leadership leads to bad places.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: And here in John 10, what Jesus is saying is, guys, I'm I'm not just the shepherd who knows you by name.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm the shepherd who knows the direction you need to go.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: He leads our life.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: Like he can see ahead.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: He is the caller that can't just see the road in your life.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: No, dude, he made the road.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: He knows the obstacles, he knows what we need.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: And this is why we need to listen and turn up the volume of the voice of Jesus in our life.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he knows what leads to life and he knows what leads to death.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: Okay, guys, and I know this personally from college, okay?
17:07
SPEAKER_00: I know what it looks like to turn the volume not up on Jesus but down.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because I did this in college, man.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: I was a Christian that showed up at things like this.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: And I like I knew God's word, like I knew his voice, man.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: I studied it, and if you would have asked me, I'm a follower of Jesus and he leads my life.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then I started dating a girl, my junior year.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: And uh this girl was nice, we liked each other, and to be honest, I'm just winging it.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: Like nobody taught me what it was like to date someone.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm just doing what the voice in my head says, the voice from high school, and boys that were dating the girls that said, and and and we found ourselves in a situation where we're both Christians, but we don't know what we're doing.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: And very quickly, I realized we didn't make any boundaries, and then finally we made boundaries, and guess what?
17:48
SPEAKER_00: I compromised on those boundaries, and and then I just started pushing it.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest, guys, as the guy in that relationship, I'm not leading this thing well at all.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: And she knew it, uh, and I knew it.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: And so we start pushing things, and I'm leading us bound down bad paths.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: Like I start like laying in the bed with her, I start saying over her place and crumbly traditions, like I started doing these things.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: And one day I show up to her house and she's just crying, and I'll never forget.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: She looks at me and she says, Hey, you claim to be a follower of Jesus, uh, but you are not following Jesus in this relationship.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: And you claim to be a man of God, but let me tell you, Zach, you're not.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not gonna be led by you anymore.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna follow Jesus.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: And she said that.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: And you know, the lesson that I learned, and the lesson I'm trying to share with you uh tonight, is guys the voices in your life are leading you somewhere, and Jesus does know the way to life.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: And you are gonna be led, and you need to take ownership for some of that stuff.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: And and you gotta know that like turning the voice down on Jesus is going to be a problem in your life.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: The desires, if you turn it up, your friends, if you turn it up, this is what's gonna change your life.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: And so eventually I get to this place where I start going, okay, Jesus, like I know life is over there, but I'm just consistently drawn this way.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: Why, why, why am I always going this way?
19:10
SPEAKER_00: And I start to realize there was a lie underneath all my decisions.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: And I started to question if Jesus actually knows what's good for me.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: And that's where John chapter 10, verse 10 comes into play.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Look at what verse 10 says.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: This is so important for us.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says this a thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: But I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus says here there's voices that are gonna lead you somewhere.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: One's gonna lead towards death, and one leads to life.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: And here's what here's what happened in that moment when I was in college, and here's what I think happens in your life.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Sin and your flesh is gonna try to convince you that that verse is reversed, that sin presents itself as the good shepherd, and that Jesus is actually the thief.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I mean: Sin is gonna tell you this that Jesus is the one keeping something good from you, that he's restrictive, he's restricting you, he's holding you back.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: And sin's gonna say, No, no, no, no, come with me and you will live.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay, this is why sexual obedience feels restrictive.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, Trust me with your body, but everything in you says, but I'll miss out.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Forgiveness can feel so unfair.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, forgive and let it go.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: But all the voices and everything in you say, well, then they get away with it.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Over and over and over again, Jesus is gonna call you to do something, but your sin is gonna say, But what if your plan isn't as good as mine?
20:43
SPEAKER_00: And underneath all of that, it's the same question.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Maybe Jesus is the one stealing good things from us.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: But hear me, based on my experience, guys, he is not.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: He wants what's best for you.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: The shepherd is what gives life.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: You can trust him.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: He knows where you want to go.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: He does lead us to life.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Do you know the voice of the shepherd?
21:06
SPEAKER_00: That's the question here tonight.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: Do you know his voice?
21:08
SPEAKER_00: I got um college guys who ask me all the time, hey Zach, is this a sin?
21:13
SPEAKER_00: You know, they'll just I had a guy ask me last week.
21:15
SPEAKER_00: Hey, Zach, is drinking underage a sin?
21:18
SPEAKER_00: I had a guy ask me yesterday, Zach, is dating a non-believer sin if she's really, really close, I think, to coming to faith.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: And I had another guy ask me last week, hey Zach, is it a sin?
21:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, how far is too far?
21:30
SPEAKER_00: And they ask me these questions.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: And when they ask me these questions, I never answer them right away.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: I always answer like this.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: What does the Bible say about that?
21:43
SPEAKER_00: What's the Bible say?
21:45
SPEAKER_00: And what I'm trying to get them to do is listen to the voice of the shepherd.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: Because it's very easy to know the voice of the shepherd on Thursday night.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: It's really hard to follow it on Friday night.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: And I'm trying to push it down.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: Do you here's a good question, guys.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Do you know the voice of your shepherd?
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Are you so immersed in the scriptures that is the voice of Jesus loud enough with all of these other voices in your life calling out?
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Are you so in tune and abiding in Christ that you can hear his voice?
22:16
SPEAKER_00: He leads his sheep.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: Guys, he is good.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: You can trust him.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: But let's wrap it up because, guys, this is where John 10 gets crazy.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: Because I'll be honest, if all Jesus said about this shepherd thing is, I know my sheep and I lead my sheep, I go, well, that's a very average shepherd, right?
22:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, shouldn't all the shepherds know their sheep?
22:39
SPEAKER_00: I think they probably got names for them, right?
22:41
SPEAKER_00: Shouldn't all shepherds like lead them through the valley, all this stuff?
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Like, like every shepherd should should do those things.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: But guys, Jesus is gonna say something next that's gonna separate him from every other shepherd.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 11.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: He says, I am the good shepherd.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: The hired hand, since he's not the shepherd, doesn't own the sheep, he leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: The wolf snatches and scatters them.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: This happens because the hired hand does not give a rip about the sheep.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: But I am the good shepherd.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: I know my own, and my own know me.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Just as the father knows me and I know the father, here it is again.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: I lay down my life for the sheep.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: And it's right there that Jesus sets himself apart from every other shepherd, every pastor, every friend that you got.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: Because if I'm honest, bro, like if I'm the shepherd and the big bad wolf comes, I ain't dying for no sheep.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: You know, like, hey sheep, we had a great run, bro, but like good luck, Goldilocks.
23:49
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm out of here, you know.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, but Jesus, right here, guys, he continues to blow the minds of his hearers.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Because he says the good shepherd does something totally different.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd doesn't just know his sheep, he doesn't just lead his sheep.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: No, the good shepherd, you want to know why he's good?
24:08
SPEAKER_00: He dies for his sheep.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: He ain't some hired hand that bounces when the wolf comes.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: No, he knows his sheep, he loves them, he actually cares about them, uh, which is totally different than all the voices we were talking about earlier.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: You know, try to think about all the voices that you're letting influence your life.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Like the dude on the podcast who doesn't know you, like the celebrity that you follow that couldn't pick you out from a crowd.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: Like, think about all of these people.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: They don't know your family, they don't know your fears, they don't know the situation you're in, and yet you're letting them lead your life.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: And guys, if they saw you in a crowd, they would not even recognize you, and they definitely aren't gonna die for you.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is different.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: He knows your name, and he knows everything about you, what's best for you.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: He loves you so much that he would die for you.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: And guys, right here in verse 11, this is where the metaphor of the whole sheep thing it stops being cute.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: Because right here, this is a foreshadowing of what?
25:09
SPEAKER_00: The cross.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: And this moves from some fluffy animal to a very bloody cross where he dies for his sheep.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: And it's not because they deserve it, it's not because they cleaned up their wool and now they look white and they got their act together.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: The shepherd dies for wandering, dirty sheep.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: You know, it reminds me of the story that I heard uh from World War II about a group of Americans uh who were prisoners of war in another country, and they were forced all day, every day, to dig holes with shovels, okay, like Shia LaBeouf.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, what would happen is the guard would line up all these Americans and they would count the shovels on the wall to make sure they all got back.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: And on this night, there were 20 people who came back, and when the guard came and counted all the shovels on the wall, he only counted 19.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: And the dude just loses his mind.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: He gets ticked, he starts screaming, and he says, Hey, if the person who lost his shovel doesn't step forward, I'm gonna shoot five of you.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: And he gets very quiet here.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: And everyone's looking around, they're like, I brought my shovel, you know, like and then finally he says, he's about to do it, and this right then, this 19-year-old man steps forward.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you're 19.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay, hands down.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: This guy he steps forward and he says, It was me.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: And this dude, the guard, I mean, no mercy, he takes, he shoots the guy right there, kills him on the spot as a warning.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: And then the guard just leaves.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: And all the 19 dudes are standing over the 19-year-old, and just like this guy, like just died right in front of him.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: And one of them starts to count the shovels, and the guard miscounted.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: They were 20 shovels on that wall.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: And so you start to think about this 19-year-old boy, what was going through his mind?
27:09
SPEAKER_00: Bro, he brought his shovel back, but he was willing in this moment, he knew somebody else was guilty, he thought.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: But he was willing, even though he brought his shovel to step forward and to give his life for that person, for five people.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: And guys, right there, at the heart of that true story, is the heartbeat of a bigger story.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: Because right there, that is in a very similar way what Jesus does on the cross for us.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: Because in a similar way, he steps forward for us, but it would be different, guys.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it would be better if all of us left our shovels and he was the only one who put a shovel up, and yet he's the one that steps forward and dies for us.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: Guys, that's the gospel message.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: The one who was perfect dies for the imperfect.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: The one who was righteous dies for the unrighteous.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: It reminds me of Romans chapter 5, where Paul says, maybe for a good person, somebody would dare to die.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: But God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: Guys, I don't know how many times you got to hear this story for it to get old, but I ain't there yet.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: Guys, this blows me away.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: That Christ would die for me.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: You want to know why it's crazy?
28:29
SPEAKER_00: Because I still know the gap in my heart.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: I still know what goes on in my heart.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: I still know my sin.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: I still know wandering away from the shepherd, and yet God would still look at me and say, I want him again and again and again and again.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: That blows my mind, and this is the gospel message.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: This is what Jesus has come to do for us.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd lays down his life for sinners.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: And guys, notice he's gonna say this later.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: Nobody took his life from him, he laid it down on his own accord.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: Why?
28:59
SPEAKER_00: Because he loves us, he loves us.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: And so if you came in here tonight looking for a shepherd, I got one for you.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: And he's the good shepherd, and he's not just your shepherd, he's your savior, and he's the only one who can lead you, and he's the only one who can save you.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: And so come to him tonight.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: His arms are wide open and he calls you by name.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: Guys, he knows all of your stuff.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: He's the only one who knows you truly and fully, and he says, You're the one that I want.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: She's the one that I want, he's the one that I died for.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: Come to the shepherd.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you're sitting here thinking, Zach, that's a great idea.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: But maybe there's this thought going through your mind.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: Because it's a thought that goes through my mind a lot.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Zach, maybe I can come to the good shepherd, but what if I mess up again?
29:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, what if I respond to the shepherd's call, but I get into the flock and then I run away?
29:55
SPEAKER_00: Like, is he gonna come after me again?
29:57
SPEAKER_00: Like there's a shepherd chase the sheep.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: Like, what if the flock keeps going that way and I run this way?
30:02
SPEAKER_00: Like, is Jesus gonna look at me and go, that sheep did that again?
30:06
SPEAKER_00: He did that again?
30:07
SPEAKER_00: Is there ever gonna be a moment where the shepherd stops chasing the sheep?
30:11
SPEAKER_00: And if you've been following Jesus for any amount of time, you know this.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: Christians still wander away too.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: Like maybe you came in here tonight on the back of a terrible week.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you're asking the same question, like, how many times can I do that before he's done with me?
30:30
SPEAKER_00: And I love what Jesus says later in John chapter 10 because he answers that fear.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: It's one of my favorite passages in all the Bible.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: Can you skip down to verse 27?
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: It's like a summary of the whole sermon.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: My sheep hear my voice.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: I know them and they follow me.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: I give them eternal life.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: And they will what?
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Never perish.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: No one will snatch them out of my hand.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: My father who has given them to me is greater than all.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: No one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it here?
31:12
SPEAKER_00: Guys, the good shepherd doesn't just know his sheep, lead his sheep, and die for his sheep.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: You want to know what makes them extra good?
31:19
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd keeps his sheep.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: He keeps them.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: He keeps them to the end.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: And you can see it here.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: I think one of the most freeing things about following Jesus, you're gonna need this in your bones if you're gonna make it to the end.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: Your salvation and your ability to stay saved.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: Every day when you wake up, am I a Christian?
31:39
SPEAKER_00: Are you a Christian today?
31:40
SPEAKER_00: Guys, your ability to stay a Christian is not how strong you are holding on to Jesus, it's how strong he is holding on to you.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: Can you see it here?
31:49
SPEAKER_00: And the father's stronger than all.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: It kind of reminds me, you know, with my kids this summer, uh, we were at my father-in-law's pool, and I was holding my son Caden, who's one, uh, like any good dad does with his one-year-old son who can't swim at all.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: I was holding him over the pool and I was yelling at him.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: And I was saying, Caden, don't let go! Like, hold on, Caden, and he's screaming, you know, crying like dad, don't let go, you know, and all and I'm just holding on to him, and finally, like, he's not even two, his grip strength is pathetic.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: So he finally lets go.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: And in this moment, he he drops, like he lets go of me.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: But does he fall into the pool?
32:25
SPEAKER_00: No.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: Why?
32:28
SPEAKER_00: Because it wasn't really him holding on to his father, it was his father holding on to him.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: I got him.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: And guys, that right there is the perfect picture of us with Jesus.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: You may spend your whole life thinking, I gotta hold on.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: I've got to do good.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: I've got to hold on to the Jesus.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: If I don't mess up, I can't do that again.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: If I do that again, he'll let me fall.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: And you live in this fear that if you do that again, you're gonna fall into this pool of hell.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: But guys, I want you to notice something.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: Your ability to stay a Christian, you can see it here.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we cling to Jesus.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we obey him.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we follow him, but our hope in life and death is not our strength, it's his.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: And your grip is weak.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: But can I tell you, his ain't.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get tired, he doesn't get tired.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna stumble, he doesn't drop you.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, nobody will snatch them out of my hand.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: And so, Saul Company, should you obey the Good Shepherd?
33:33
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, you should.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: You should hear his voice.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: You should follow him as he leads you, because he doesn't lead you to death, he leads you to life.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: But guys, listen, don't obey because you think you have to, or else he'll lose you.
33:48
SPEAKER_00: No, you obey because it leads to life.
33:51
SPEAKER_00: You obey because you have a good father and a good shepherd who knows you, who loves you, and dies for you.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: We don't abuse his grace.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: No, we live out of his grace and we obey out of his grace.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: And so tonight, if you've never come to the good shepherd, I pray that tonight you would.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: And guys, if you belong to him but you've wandered away, well, welcome back to the fold.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna happen again, but keep coming back.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: He'll keep welcoming you back to the Father.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: It's by his grace.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: This is the gospel.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: And let me pray and we'll sing about what God has done.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I'm so grateful for this room, especially for the Christians in the room who have heard your voice, call their name.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: Father, I'm so grateful that by your grace you have reached into my heart and you have saved me, just like we just sang.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: It's not about perfection or earning it or deserving it.
34:43
SPEAKER_00: It's only by the blood of Jesus.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I'm so grateful that you are the good shepherd, that every day you lead us, you guide us, you know us intimately, you want what's best for us, and you care about us enough to die on the cross.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray for everybody in this room that as I think about their life and the voices they listen to, God, that they would listen ultimately to the voice of the one who loves them, who died for them, and rose again.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us turn the volume up of the influence of Jesus in her life and help us identify, maybe with the help of friends, to do an audit of the voices of her life, and help us stay close to the shepherd.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: Help us not wonder.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: I do pray for the saint that came in here tonight, so discouraged that they call themselves a Christian, and last night they fell on the sand, and last weekend, and they just feel so dirty.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: Lord, did you help them today stand back up?
35:40
SPEAKER_00: You're so good at helping sheep stand.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Do that tonight.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: The humility of Jesus, and it's this humility we now sing about.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name I pray.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: You guys can stand and we'll sing.