"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT OUR GOOD SHEPHERD JESUS CHRIST"
John 10:26 “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
John 10:28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:29 “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.
Some explanatory thoughts/application/questions and a prayer:
This part of John's Gospel is chock full of Jesus teaching us many things. In this particular part of chapter 10, Jesus is explaining His role as the good shepherd, and His relationship with His sheep ( those who believe in Him, and those who do not ) Jesus tells us some very comforting truths about what He has given to us, and of His grip on our saved lives.
1. We become one Jesus's sheep by believing in Him.
John 10:26 “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
Jesus was talking with the Pharisees who thought they knew the Lord and were right with Him. But, they were rejecting Jesus and did not believe in Him. Thus, Jesus explains the consequence of unbelief, and how it affects a person. Simply put, He told them, John 10:26 “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.
Believing is a possibility for anyone, and it is also a choice for everyone. A person chooses to believe in Jesus or not. For the person who believes they become saved, and Jesus calls believers "My Sheep" So, if You have believed in Jesus Christ to save you, if you have come to faith as it were, You are one of Jesus's sheep. You belong to Him, and You are in His sheepfold, you are part of His flock.
2. Jesus says 3 things about His sheep.
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
(1) They belong to Him, and they hear or recognize His voice.
As mentioned before you came to faith, You were not one of His sheep. But when you turned to Jesus and believed in Him, and received Him then, at that very moment, You became one of His sheep.
In Jesus's day, shepherds would speak to their sheep, and their sheep would recognize their shepherds voice. They did not recognize the voice of other shepherds, only their own. Jesus's point here, is that we are not only His sheep, but we hear His voice, or we can understand Him when He speaks to us. Before you became one of His sheep, you may have heard sermons or read the Bible, but it did not come through to You. You were not one of His sheep, but, now being saved, You can hear His voice. We hear, or recognize His voice through His wonderful Word.
(2) And I know them.
Here is another lovely truth about Jesus's sheep. He knows them. He knows You. Shepherds were intimately aware of which sheep belonged to them, and which ones did not. As a believer, being one of His sheep, Jesus knows You. In fact, He knows everything about You, when you get up, when you sit down, what you are going to think before you think it, how many hairs are on your head, and every circumstance that is taking place in your life. He knows You.
(3) And they follow me.
Sheep follow their shepherd. And, believers are marked by following Jesus. Those who don't believe, don't follow, or obey Jesus, but those who are His sheep follow Him. And, by the way, He leads His sheep, and He leads us to still waters and to green pastures, and in the paths of righteousness. And, eventually, He will lead you right on up into heaven.
3. Jesus has given us eternal life, and we are in His hand, and in the Father's hand. And no one can take us out of their hands.
John 10:28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:29 “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.
Here's how this reads in the NLT.
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me,
John 10:29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me.
for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me.
Jesus has given you eternal life. This happened the very moment you turned to Him. You are united with Him, and with the Father, and You know them. You have a relationship with them.
Jesus says, You will never perish, you will not wind up in eternal judgement, but in heaven. And, furthermore, no one can take you out of His hand. You are secure in His loving hand. You have been given to Jesus by the Father, and He is more powerful than anyone else. And, thus, no one can take you away from Jesus. You are also in the Father's hand, and no one can take you out of His hand either.
Believers are in good hands to say the least. The hand of Jesus, and the hand of God the Father.
Some questions:
1. Can you remember when you did not believe in Christ, and can you remember when you came to believe in Him?
2. Can you remember when You started to understand the Bible, it started making sense to You?
3. Are you following Jesus today, are you seeking to obey His voice today.
4. How does it make you feel to know that Jesus knows you?
5. Do you realize that God has given you the greatest gift possible, and that is eternal life?
6. Would you take a moment to say thank You to God today for what He has given you, and to thank Him for the fact that you are not going to perish, and that You are safe and sound in the hands of Jesus and of God the Father?
A prayer:
Our Father, who is greater than You? Who has done for us what You have? Thank You for giving us to Jesus.
Thank You for Your promise to keep us and not let anyone take us out of Your hands, or the hand of Jesus.
What better place to be than in your hands. We once were lost, but now we are found.
Father, as we hear You speaking to us through Your Word, we want to not only hear You, but we want to do what You tell us. We want to follow, we want obey You. In Jesus name, amen.
Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.
