John Chapter 10:1-5

This book is about God, desiring a relationship with us and is willing to do anything and everything to develop that relationship. When you go back to the garden. What was that about is about God going with my as you look at the tabernacle in the Hebrew Scriptures was that about God dwelling with man you going to the temple.

What was about desiring a relationship with you.

Go to the cross of Calvary was a desiring relationship with man. Welcome to cross the bridge with David McGee.

David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. You know that when you boil down Christianity.

It all comes down to God, desiring a personal relationship with you today on cross the bridge pastor David McKee explained more about this special relationship as he continues the Gospel of John chapter 10. Now here's David McGee with his teaching the shepherd.

If you remember in John chapter 9 what was going on when we had the blind man who was healed of his blindness, and then he got kicked out of the temple and then Jesus goes looking for funding to minister to. Now this is important because remember guys that the first and chapter divisions came much later. So we need to look at this in a continuing fault counterweights and that he just sees this is just speaking to the blind man and then that sets the stage for John chapter 10 verse one most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber.

Now the Pharisees that were in the previous chapter, they thought of themselves as shepherds but we can see that they really didn't act like shepherds that one mistake we can make is that we think all Pharisees are bad and in this, just not the case, we see the case of Nicodemus, of Joseph of Arimathea who were noble men who ended up ministering to the Lord.

After the disciples had all left but what happened is they had gotten well they got religious they gotten prime fully religious and you don't want that that gets in the way that gets in the way of people come to know God that gets in the way of people experiencing the reality of Jesus Christ and so at this point.

A lot of the Pharisees. A lot of the leaders were were corrupted when it says it sheepfold by the door. There was the sheepfold were usually connected to a house and there was a doorway into it into the pin and so what would happen is if you were there for legitimate reasons you would bring the sheep into that door you would bring them out to the door, but if you were there to steal her shape then you would come over the wall so there's a lot of really neat pictures in this next few verses that I'll try to describe as we go through first two, but he enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Now understand and maybe you're sitting there in your your kinda new to the Bible and you're going okay. He's talking about how to shepherd sheep.

Not sure how this is gonna help me in my life will let me explain. In the Bible we are described as she used to be really offended at that as a young Christian, and to be honest, I didn't see any parallels between the energy, but as I've grown in the Lord and is off, look that sheep and how they act and how the do things boy. He gets a good analogy. I'm actually considering buying just a couple should just pick out a watch and then learn from amino but there's a lot parallels number here.

Number one on the go through about seven of these number one, they are led by the shepherd to keep them from danger, they are led by the shepherd to keep them from danger. Sheep will hurt themselves. If you allow them to do so though turn themselves over and not be able to get back up. They will walk right into a revealing or crevice or off a cliff.

They will you know they just they don't know where they're going. Now the problem is they don't know where they're going and sometimes they think they do as a little, convicting, and let's go on now.

The other thing is they are led to food by the shepherd. The shepherd is the one that leads them to food or let the food by the shepherd.

The next week, take a quick look at Psalm 23 and how it ties into the whole sheep and shepherd and so there led the food, but the sheep will actually starve to death. Stay in one spot they will eat the grass down to a nub in the just stay there until the shepherd goes you know what we gotta go somewhere else and get something to eat. Sheep tend the flock together. They just cannot you know if you have a wall separating the field out together as a group and you know they they do good things together and they do bad things together. You know when sheep is found a hole in the fence and they all kinda follow that that that sheep right out of the fence and so again that's kind of a another parallel with us and it we tend you know if you're going to do something bad what you do you call smites if they want to go do bad with right okay couple people realize our so, or if you're doing something don't really hang if you're doing something good come to church take a mouse go to church. That's a good thing flocking together. Sheep imitate one another. If one starts doing something the other sheep start doing something. Have you ever done that little numb… I thought about doing this to the felt bats outside not ever been somewhere and semi-looks up in the sky starts doing this and in then you notice what happens. Everybody talking bonsai will will what's up there were all just seeing that you're glad I didn't do that, you know, we all tend to imitate one another and number five the sheep desperately need the shepherd.

They need the shepherd they just they can exist in the wilderness without the shepherd. They can exist in pastors without the shepherd to take on the water to take him to green pastures to keep mala crevices and the regimes now number six sheep were tied to sacrifice in the Bible. They were taught the sacrifice and it's not. It's not just us but the Jesus speaks about being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

That certainly ties back to the Passover lamb that we see in the Hebrew Scriptures throughout the Bible we see lambs being a picture of sacrifice. I think there we see a picture that we should sacrifice our lives to the Lord and number seven sheep tend to stray. They tend the stray. If you gonna leave them by themselves they just cannot start to wander off somewhere and they find triple rule real easy now. This is probably one of the one of the seven here that you know have absolutely nothing to do with any of us. Amen. Race conscious.

I'm getting.

We tend to do this now. Some of us are honest about it the most. Try to hide it, but this is what we do. We tend to stray and maybe you saw as a believer maybe thought that was just you that you're the only one that tends to stray that you're the only one that perhaps struggles with prayer time or struggles with devotional time or struggle struggles with with getting the church generally all do that, we all do that to 1° or another.

At one time or another.

Some of you have been real honest as you come through the line and and and on know if you're aware of what you're saying but you come to the line you go I wouldn't want to come this morbid schedule and beers over breakout for the kids but if we pretend that we don't have this thing that likes to stray or endanger them.

But when we recognize that our hearts tend to wander to safety and that there's a safety in knowing that that can happen only can it happen, but it tends to happen prone to wander is what is the phrase John Wesley used in terms of sheep and again I think we qualify all all those levels, but the screen on first three to him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out like that cause him by name to God is personal. He desires a personal relationship with us and and you know it's really an amazing thing. If you stop to consider if you look up in the sky and you see the stars and you realize that God created them. You look at the sun and sky God created that the trees in the earth, the heavens and earth. And God created that and the amazing thing is, he desires a relationship with you and I he wants to be personal with us. This isn't just in this verse.

This is in the whole book. It's in the whole Bible. This whole book is about God, desiring a relationship with us and he's willing to do anything and everything to develop that relationship. See when you go back to the garden.

What was that about is about God dwelling was man as you look at the tabernacle in the Hebrew Scriptures was that about God dwelling was man you going to the temple.

What was that about God, desiring a relationship with man when you go to the cross of Calvary was that God desiring a relationship with man, you go to the end of the book to the book of Revelation. That's about God, desiring a relationship and dwelling with us.

That's an amazing thing and it's good news and I don't know how Christianity came to be what it is today because it's a far cry from what I just mentioned it's a far cry from understanding that God desires a relationship with us so much that he was willing to send his son to die for. Somehow we've all we boiled it down to it's like up a list of rules and regulations. The life lesson here is God desires a personal relationship with you. God desires a personal relationship will be right back with more from David McGee on cross the bridge right now there's a word from associate pastor DA Brown hey Bob want to take a minute to pray for listeners in the cities in Georgia, Warner Robins and Woodstock and also the cities in Hawaii, Hilo, Honolulu, Kahlúa Colegio low. We thank you for the cities and we thank you for the people living in the cities that we get the pray for right now.

We pray that you encourage them in your word that you encourage them to get plugged into a Bible teaching Bible believing church Lord's summer sick. We pray that you please heal them God.

We pray that you would give them wisdom how they can be a blessing to their neighbor for you and lower pray for the pastors in those areas that you give them wisdom and discernment and helped him to not grow weary in doing good in Jesus name, amen, amen. Thank you brother and now get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse, God desires a personal relationship.

What is that look like, what is it look like to you if you had a really good friend and you had a personal relationship with that friend what you feel like if the friend called you and said hey listen I really really don't want to talk to you throughout the week and I know you wrote me some letters and and I just don't have time to read him, but I tell you what I love. I love you and and and really I like being with you, but just hang out for about an hour on Sunday all that that gives your warm fuzzy done it, and yet you realize that's way we treat the Lord sometimes I'll give you an hour on Sunday and I'll feel good about it because I have given you an hour well an hour and 1/2 year but anyway that's not personal is not a personal relationship, personal relationship is much more intimate than that. Can you imagine telling your spouse that really love you all. I want to see an hour on Sunday.

That's not gonna work because the ultra now, and what happens if we call it a personal relationship. When does it get personal. When does it get personal. See, here's what happens to us as believers were trekking along as believers were sitting in the church and you hear a Scripture or you hear the pastor talk about something man that just school notion your enemy. It is something you need to deal with some life adjustment some course correction that needs to be made and what we tend to do. I mean have absent where you sat and I've heard pastors talking in an absent there and when I should've been applying the word of God got mad at the pastor can't believe he said that I could, can't, I'm upset.

He talked about given again what no I don't give the date upset me that he mentioned when does it get personal God desires a personal relationship with us and part of that relationship is ongoing and he will speak truth to your life and will need to adjust things will need to make these course corrections if you will because it is a personal relationship. You remember the day he called the night he called you by name. Maybe some of these not yet had that experience. It's an awesome thing when you realize that the Lord is calling you, Lord always calls individuals. He doesn't say hey you know the group of you off to the left all do this or he calls you by name, is a personal thing.

I don't know if you've if you have animals or not, you know there's some animals that you can call and they respond in like dogs and some animals that don't usually respond when you call like cats and my wife has some cats that they actually come when when she calls.

But you know I am large.

Just know when you call it Kathy, looks at you like that right. Maybe that's just me because I don't see them enough or something out of the keynote talk to me and you can be way across the field and just you know with solar say seminar soon after their own want to be more like a dog with Jesus when Jesus calls my name or I see Jesus or how Jesus hey you know, not like a cat because cats don't respond in an every one of us should respond to the Lord when he calls to us. Amen. And you know it's interesting to know why we don't respond it. It's I don't think it's a Thing is cats will you know that thing dogs have owners, cats have servants, think I think that and I love cats okay don't don't don't call or email or anything like that because I really love cats. They taste like chicken and okay I'm sorry okay you can you can email and call now because I cannot II kinda walked in the we don't, Jesus will call us and we don't respond as we don't feel like were worthy we've been beaten up by the world. We think that he's going to find out that we've strayed here and he knows that I think is calling what he think he's reaching out to us because he sees us doing this things like, don't do that, don't go there. You get her any calls to us.

Consider staying away from them.

When we experience being unsure or being afraid beloved.

That's the time to run tooling if you're here this morning you feel that way you feel beat up you feel afraid you feel unsure. Run the Jesus run the Jesus don't run from the cross run to the cross verse four and when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice is an interesting thing because what would happen.

Sometimes, as they would have several flocks that mixed together and the shepherds get. It wasn't a problem. The shepherd could come and call to the sheep and the sheep would run out to them. No one is voice just like a doll.

They recognize the voice of the shepherd. We need to develop a life of listening to the voice of our shepherd and knowing what that sounds like and that's that's what we do here to understand that when we when were reading God's word. You understand what's really happening at at a much deeper spiritual level. It's this shepherd calling out to you. It's the shepherds voice speaking to you and and whether it's here this morning, or the radio, the television or Internet or whatever. Scott's voice going out to a sheep::: new calling me we should learn to recognize that voice verse five yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Be careful with this one because this is something that we need to be careful with me run through. Just a few verses real quick second Corinthians chapter 11 verse 13 says for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ in the wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light to visit several here. Second Peter chapter 2 verse one is but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. Another verse first John chapter 4 verse one says, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. That's interesting and and I could name a lot of other verses that we could go through these verses are written to the first century church. See, we tend to think that the first century church was they had it all together did have any problem but here in the first century church Libyan warned against false teachers are being warned against heresies are being warned against all these things because if that was true, then how much more so now see we have to know the book because it keeps us in a safer place were warned in second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse three says let no one deceive you by any means for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. So here were warned that there's gonna be a falling away. Who do you think the people that are falling away are going to be following false teachers, false teachers, we tend to think of you know, the false teachers are people in India are you know somewhere far away here the false teachers are all around us there down the street false teaching guys this is a time where you need to be especially especially careful. That's why solid biblical teaching is so important. See if you know this book. You know this but when somebody says well data that it that you say and say what it says there is this one verse that says actually the opposite of what you just said when you know the foot if you don't know the book you're placing yourself in peril and the thing is, and I strongly believe this that we're probably in the most scripturally illiterate generation of Christians that have existed in 2000 years. We just don't know our Bible you know what is were not told about us. I mean I was a believer for 15 umpteen years before I really started digging into the word it was because I started fellowship and at a place atop the word. The place that importance on and that's what feeds us and that's how we grow and I don't know of. I don't know of another way to avoid false teaching better than to go systematically. Verse by verse chapter by chapter through the Bible. There's just not a better way maybe go well, you know, as long as some scriptures are mentioned limit women. One of the things that the cults do is that they have is called isolated scriptural emphasis no words I take one Scripture, and they just dwell on that one Scripture you go, what about the associate throughout when I talk about this at scriptural term of this Scripture suggests the fact that it is scriptures mentioned don't don't feel safe. I don't mean to freak you out. But just because you're in the Christian bookstore don't feel safe just because you listen to Christian radio. Don't feel safe.

I sucked to be careful to discern the safe side in their when they mention verse granite. It's not what you start. Galatians chapter 1 verse eight nonsense, but even if we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. Anybody that tries to add something to the gospel. Paul says not once. Twice in these two verses let him be accursed.

What's adding something to the gospel. Adding some requirement to the gospel other than what's in the Bible. If somebody says what you gotta do this and you gotta do that you gotta do this that and the other you not really saying let them be accursed, strong language, but that's the language of the Bible. That's Paul's language and see what were supposed to be doing is were sufficiently digging in the word of God.

Acts 1711 says these were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so these are the people in Berea you can look at the verses around and you should look at the verses around this work and see that it's talking about the Koreans and so when believers say to another, be up Meridian, this is what it's talking about somebody says hey this you know God, you know, got sent to the real problem is you got a lack of self-esteem really wears that in the German chapter and verse. It's not really in their in their churches gun if insinuated or something you know people that ask people that when they share some spiritual knowledge.

What sounds really good. Where is that in the book chapter and verse to get that from friend. You know for sure that your sins have been forgiven. You can know right now only Jenna short, simple prayer simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. God wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life not done wrong things I have sinned, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you. All of my days in Jesus name, amen friend of you prayed that prayer according to the Bible you've been forgiven you've been born again. So congratulations thing you just made the greatest session that you will ever make. God bless you, if you pray that prayer with David for the first time we'd love to hear from you. You can visit cross the bridge.com to receive our first steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Or you can write to cross the bridge at PO Box 12, 515 Winston-Salem, NC 27117 and share how God is working your life you're the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood through radio through the Internet and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use so if you'd like to support this ministry. Please go to cross the bridge.com. Click on the donate button and ask God how much you would have you give either on a one-time basis or continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's word continues to go out through cost so much ODA before we go. What are some ways of lesser listeners days you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David with his email devotional life lessons to consider a daily reading plan and the thought to meditate on throughout your day. From the heart. David McGee thanks again for listening and join us next time. As David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the gospel of God