Kingdom Life Church Sunday Morning October 27, 2024
The Word of God is Alive and Powerful - Part 4
John 10:1–30, NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”
Heb. 12:4-5 The Word of God is Alive and Powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. In Matt. 12:36, Jesus said that we must give account for every idle word in the day of judgement.
1. Anyone who tries to take the sheep without going through the door is a thief
2. Christ Jesus is the good shepherd of the sheep who calls His sheep by name
3. The sheep know His voice - Relationship developed on quantity and quality time.
4. The sheep follow the good shepherd because they know His voice- Christ Jesus. How do they know His voice? A voice is learned through spending time with someone. We may also learn a voice through the words a person uses.
5. The sheep will by no means follow a stranger. We know the difference between the voice of Christ and the voice of a stranger because we intimately know through experience the voice of Christ. We study The Word of God so we will know His voice. If Jesus said something that the Father would not say, He would not be the voice of The Father. If The Spirit says something that The Father and Jesus would not say, it is not the voice of The Holy Spirit. We must have a relationship with The Word of God in order to know the voice of The Holy Spirit. We must develop a relationship with Holy Spirit if we want to rightly divide The Word of God.
6. Jesus is not just the Good Shepherd of the sheep, but He is also the door of the sheep. The shepherd and the gatekeeper are the same person. Jesus’s words are Spirit and Life. If someone uses something to get you to follow them other than the Spirit and Life Word of God, they are not coming through the door. They are thieves trying to steal you from His hand. Don’t follow someone just because they had a dream about you or prophesy over you. Get to know God’s Word and become the prophet of your own life. If you follow someone as they follow Christ, their words will be spirit and life because their words will sound like Jesus. Their words will sound like Jesus because they are His love-motivated spirit-filled words.
7. Entering into the sheepfold requires passage through Christ Jesus, the door. We must go through the door in order to enter in to the kingdom of God.
8. Entering through the door creates a safe place of rest for us in the kingdom of God.
9. Thieves come to steal, kill and destroy. The thief wants to take you away from Christ Jesus. The thief wants to kill your body and your chance at fulfilling your purpose. The thief wants to destroy your joy, peace and righteousness. The thief may use words that sound good but they are not love-motivated spirit and life filled words. If the words create bondage, they are not Christ’s words. If you continue in my words, you are my disciples and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. It was for freedom that He made us free.
10. The good shepherd provides life and life more abundantly. Christ Jesus gives you rest from the slavery and bondage of sin. He also frees us from the bondage of a religious system that enslaves and produces death. Christ Jesus gives you the chance to fulfill your purpose as mature sons of God. Christ Jesus gives you righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
11. The good shepherd does not run away when the enemy comes in to destroy you. He stays with you and fights on your behalf. He is there to protect us when we know His voice and follow Him. He corrects us. He disciplines us. He chastens us because He loves us. Yes, He fights on our behalf but we must join the fight through faith. We must say yes to Him and repent quickly when He rebukes us. We must be zealous for Him as we hear His Word and obey. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:19–22, NKJV)
12. The good shepherd laid down His life for the sheep.
13. Christ Jesus had authority to lay His life down and to take it back up again. This authority came from The Word of God, The Father. When God speaks, He releases His authority. Whoever receives His Word receives His authority. His authority is in His Word.
14. They confronted Jesus and told Him to tell them plainly whether or not He was The Christ. He said, I have told you but you would not hear my words or the words of my Father. Christ Jesus told them that He was the Christ. How did He tell them? He told them that He was the good shepherd and that the sheep belonged to Him. “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” (Psalm 23, NKJV) Also Psalm 95
15. They did not believe because they did not know His voice. They did not know His voice because they did not know our Father’s voice. They did not know our Father’s voice because they did not continue or abide in His Word. They did not believe His works because they had forgotten the works of our Father.
16. They did not believe Him because they did not hear (know) His voice and therefore they were not His sheep so He did not know them and they would not follow Him. How do we know if someone belongs to Christ? They will hear and believe his Word and follow Him. It is not our job to persuade everyone. It is our job to preach the word of our Father and His Son.
17. Christ Jesus gives eternal life to His sheep. They belong to Him and to our Father and no-one is able to steal them from His hand.
18. Christ Jesus will not let the thief snatch them away from Him. If someone goes away from Christ, they were not snatched. They slowly stopped listening to and following Christ Jesus and became shipwrecked in their faith because they stopped hearing His voice a following His words.
19. Christ Jesus and our Father are one.
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”” (Psalm 95, NKJV)
Discipleship 101 is found in Joshua 1:8