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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. The judge and the jury cross-examined the plaintiff as well as the defendant. The judge didn't know what to do so as a last resort the judge called a final witness. The sheep. They were brought into the courtroom. Then the judge asked the plaintiff, the one who made the accusation of thievery, to go out into the hallway, keep the doors of the chambers open, and call the sheep. He made his call, and the little sheep just cowered down and looked very afraid. The accused went out and called, and the sheep came to him. He said, case closed. The sheep knows the shepherd's voice. That's what the judge said. The sheep knows the shepherd's voice.
So that's how it was done. Then the sheep were taken out and led out, directed out, to the green pastures. So we've told you before about sheep, right? The Bible uses the metaphor of sheep throughout the Bible. And we who are not shepherds, or we don't come from an agrarian culture, but from a very modern techno-urban city kind of a culture, we don't understand all the ramifications.
It's a beautiful picture, right? The Lord, we are the sheep of His hand, the Bible says. Psalm 23, the shepherd's Psalm. But sheep, as I've told you, are not the smartest thing going. They are prone to wander. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. But though they're not the smartest, they know their Master's voice. You know, it's funny, whenever I teach on sheep, and I do mention that sheep are kind of dumb, I just see some people just sort of like, I don't like this part of the sermon.
I'm like being told I'm not smart. You know, the fact that the Bible calls you a sheep, you're going to hear it one of two ways. You're going to either hear it as a chop, a put-down, or you're going to hear it as a compliment. I see it as a compliment. David, I think, was bragging when he said, the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. He does this, he does that. In other words, I'm a sheep that I recognize, but I have it good because I have a good shepherd.
And he was bragging. And how many of you are pet owners? Okay, hands down.
I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands on the next one. But I'm going to tell you this. There are good pet owners, and there are some bad pet owners. And I mean bad in the true sense of not cool, but not good.
Not good. Bad pet owners. Some own pets. They never walk them. They never exercise them.
They never spend much time. They sort of keep them in a little enclosure in the backyard. They run around barking all day long, all day. I have a neighbor that goes all day long, all day long, all day long. Not a next-door neighbor, so Donna wants you to try to zillow that and find who is it?
Somewhere else in the neighborhoods. I'm thinking, goodness, that dog is out there all the time, barking all the time, needs an owner who will take care of it. Then there are those who are good normal pet owners, probably you, since you're Christians. You are good pet owners. You might even quote text of scripture to your pets.
I don't know. But then there are those other pet owners on the other side of the spectrum who are like, they carry their pets wherever they go. They have little sweaters with monograms for their pets. You know, they go to dog psychiatrists if something's wrong and, you know, their dog house is air-conditioned in the summer.
This exists, by the way. We hear that and we go, that's stupid. That's overboard. But let me ask you a question.
If you were a dog and you could choose which house to go to, you can take A, B, or C. I'm going with C. I want the A, C if I'm a dog in the summertime. Right? So when David said, the Lord is my shepherd, he's going, I'm C. Yeah, I got the great shepherd who takes such great care of me. It was a boast. So back to our story. Notice something about the good shepherd, the true shepherd. False shepherds don't come through the door, they try to climb in some other way. So in the morning, the shepherds come to the door. The doorkeeper, the porter says, I know you, you're the right shepherd, call your sheep and they go with them.
A false shepherd is going to try to climb in, probably at night, to steal the sheep. Jesus came through the front door of Judaism. He came in the right way. Jesus was predicted by the prophets, inspired by God the Father throughout the Old Testament, 330 predictions made that Jesus fulfilled. He came in through the front door of Judaism.
That was Paul's point, Galatians 4, verse 4, that in the fullness of the time, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law. He came in the right way, came in through the front door, verse 4. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. This I have found out from people who keep sheep over in these United States is that Western shepherds drive their sheep, but Eastern shepherds would lead their sheep.
And you see it today when you go over to the Middle East. You see a shepherd walking in front of the flock, not driving them, leading them. And why would he lead them? Because sheep don't know where they're going.
Yeah, you can drive them using sheep dogs, but it's better if you lead them because the sheep will come to trust you, actually. Shepherds have said, my sheep are very at ease when I'm around because it's like they have this instinct that says, I know that he knows where he's going. He knows where the spots are, right?
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters, as David said. So he goes in front of them. He leads them. They follow him.
They know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will run away from him, flee from him, for they do not know the voice of a stranger. Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which he spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them, before we get into that, and then we're going now to the second sheep enclosure. There's an underlying truth in all this.
You know, we've kind of given you and unfolded and unpacked the meaning of these words, but here's an underlying truth. Sheep need to be led. Sheep need shepherds. We need his guidance. We need him to lead us.
We need to depend on him. Sheep who have no shepherd are called lost or dead. And there are people in this world who I would classify as lost and dead, dead in trespasses and sins, wandering, meandering, not knowing where they're going, because there's not a shepherd over them. Jesus saw the multitudes in Galilee like sheep having no shepherd wandering aimless. Sheep need to be led. This has happened to me a couple times when I've been in the Middle East. And one time, interestingly enough, in Bethlehem itself, where there was a flock of sheep, there was a shepherd, my buddy and I decided, let's go get some milk fresh out of the udder of these sheep.
The rest of our tour group thought, these guys are nuts. And so we approached the shepherd, but all the sheep, when they heard us coming, they all huddled together with their heads in the center and their little sheep hineys poking out. So they're getting their heads together, but there's nothing really in their heads to get together.
So it's just not a good strategy. They're not like facing the other direction like some animals do. They're facing inward, like, oh, get the bad men away. And they're exposed. They're vulnerable. So the shepherd had to break them up and scatter them around, keeping them close to him, but not in that formation because it's not a good thing for them to do.
It makes them open to predatory animals. So Jesus, verse 7, said to them. He said to them again, so this is the second time now He's speaking, and He's using a little bit different analogy.
The morning is over. It's now the shepherd out with the sheep during the midday, mid-afternoon, leading them out to the hillside, the green pastures, et cetera. Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
Now, it changes a little bit. Before He was the good shepherd, He's the shepherd calling the sheep out. Now He's the door, and I'll explain that.
All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, generous friends like you keep this ministry going strong, sharing verse-by-verse teaching from Scripture with people all around the world. And as we prepare to close out another year of ministry, we need your help to meet a $120,000 need by December 31 so that in the new year, more people can connect with the God who loves them and wants to be known by them. Your tax-deductible gift today will have an eternal impact, transforming lives as together we share the unchanging truth of God's Word in an ever-changing world. You'll help ensure Connect with Skip Heitzig can continue expanding to reach new audiences through new radio stations in major cities and with the translation of Pastor Skip's messages into Spanish.
To give your year-end gift to help meet the $120,000 need, go to connectwithskip.com slash give or call 800-922-1888 and make an investment that will have eternal returns. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. In the village, that sheep enclosure where all of those communal flocks were kept, the walls were high, but out in the pasture lands, out in the countrysides, the walls were usually much lower, just stones piled up with a little bit of bramble. A little simple enclosure was made, sheep were put in, but there was no door. The shepherd would lie down at night if he kept them out a few days, lie down at night at the entrance of the sheep enclosure. There's an author of Old Testament books named George Adam Smith, talked about manners and customs.
He was visiting the Middle East. He was out in the countryside with shepherds. The shepherd was showing him and directing him how he was leading his sheep and led him into one of these simple little enclosures out in the countryside.
And George Adam Smith said to the shepherd, well, what are you going to do now? Where's the door? And the shepherd said, I am the door. And he showed that he would lay down in front of the door at night, and he said, the sheep can't leave but over me. And a wolf cannot come in but over me. You've heard that old expression over my dead body. I like that.
I like that in this sense. I'm the shepherd. You're not going to get to my sheep unless you come through me. That speaks of protection. That speaks of safety.
And safety and protection are due to proximity. The shepherd is with his sheep, protecting his sheep at the door of the sheepfold. I am the door. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door, verse 9. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. How many doors were there to the sheep enclosure?
Ten? It was one. Jesus said, I am the door. In another place, he said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. Jesus, the famous I am statements of the Gospel of John, here's one, I am the door.
Speaks of safety, security, all due again to proximity. Listen, the key to being a happy sheep is get as close as you can to the shepherd. Hang out with the shepherd, man. Abide, Jesus said in him. Abide means have a constant, close, intimate, living communion with him. The closer you are in proximity to the shepherd, your security goes up, your safety goes up, your satisfaction goes up. Verse 10, famous verse. You know this one. The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life and they might have it to the max. That's the NSV. That's the new Skip version. More abundantly is the new King James version. To the hilt.
Turned up to 10. That you might have life and have it more abundantly. And notice the contrast.
The thief, the shepherd, or the door. The contrast is he wants to kill, he wants to steal, he wants to destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it to the max, to the full, to the brim, to the hilt. What a contrast from Satan's plan for your life and God's plan for your life. You've heard people say, God loves you, Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
True, but you need to hear the other side of the coin. Satan hates you and has a miserable plan for your life. So if you want to be a happy sheep, learn to say no to the one who's trying to kill you, steal, and destroy you. Say no to that. Oh, but it's hard. It is hard. But it's painful to say no to the world.
Yeah, it's difficult. But your choice is this. You can have temporary pleasure now and long-term pain later, or you can have temporary pain now and long-term satisfaction that lasts into eternity. That's the choice because Jesus just frames it so nicely, the thief has come to steal from you, rip you off.
Are you being ripped off or are you being right on with the shepherd? I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. You know, I have never met a person in all my years of doing this, doing ministry, never yet met a person who at the end of his life or her life said, I wish I would have sinned more. I regret that I didn't take more drugs or fornicate more or get into illicit stuff. I really regret that I've never met a person who said that. I've met plenty of people who regret that they did do all that stuff and they wish they would have walked with the Lord longer. So, yeah, it's not easy. It's hard to say no, but the end thereof, and that is all of Satan's lies, is the way of death.
So say not just no, but say yes. No to Satan's poise, to the thief's poise, but yes to Jesus who is doing everything He can to give you abundant life. And I just want to ask you, I want you just to think through this yourself, maybe in your devotions tomorrow, does that describe you, your life, abundant life? That doesn't mean that everything's perfect or that you have tons of disposable income or everything in life you want materially, but is it abundant?
Is it abundant? Jesus said He's come to give you abundant life, not, I've come to give you a bummer life and bummer more abundantly. I want you to have abundant bummer. That's my plan for your life. Now, I know plenty of people in the world who don't understand my Christian walk, who think that that's what Jesus will do. I remember when I first told my friends that I've given my life to Christ and my family that I've given my life to Christ, and they said, why? What a waste.
I remember telling my friend Tony from England that I met in Israel, that I would say no to some of the things he was involved with, and yes to Jesus. And he said, I don't understand. Why would you do that? I'm having all the fun. I said, Tony, you don't even know what fun is, man. You've been eating, you've been eating hamburger helper all your life. You've been eating TV dinners. I'm over here with steak and lobster, and you think that you got it good? Jesus has abundant life. You just haven't tasted it yet.
You're over there with the TV dinners going, man, life is good, life is good. Uh-uh. Try some abundance. So as a believer, as one of God's sheep, are you a complaining sheep? Well, that's my spiritual gift. It's my talent to point things out that are wrong. Well, I don't think the Lord would mind if you buried that talent.
Is there abundance? Jesus spoke about He who thirsts and comes to me and drinks out of His inner most being will, gosh, torrents rivers of living water. I am the Good Shepherd, verse 11. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
He's going to say that four times. He gives or lays down His life four times in this passage. But a hireling 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's a hireling, a hired hand. He does not care about the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I 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.
Again, I said four times, He says, I give or I lay down my life. He's speaking of His sacrificial death. Because the shepherd, as I told you, in that sheep enclosure out in the wilderness, would lay down his life every night, lay it down, and become the door.
Which would mean if a pack of wolves came, he could die if he didn't protect himself. Jesus is saying, I am laying down my life for the sheep. The word for, listen carefully, is the Greek word hupair. And hupair means on behalf of or instead of, in the place of. I am going to lay my life down in death, in the place of, on behalf of the sheep people. So they don't have to die for their sins.
I'll take it upon myself. That's the idea of hupair. That is what we call substitutionary or vicarious atonement. It's the doctrine of vicarious atonement, substitutionary death.
And four times, Jesus makes reference to it here. I lay down my life for the sheep. You see, shepherding, it sounds like a fun life, right? It's like, oh, what a peaceful life. It's risky.
It's risky. You remember David, King David, when he, before he was king, and he was just a little shepherd boy. Remember when he was being interviewed by King Saul?
And David said, you know, King Saul, I'm a shepherd, and I'm really good at the stone and the sling. And by the way, whenever a bear or a lion came in and took a sheep, I would chase that puppy down, and I would get it from its mouth and deliver it. That's dangerous work.
I did an interesting little digging online and discovered that in a year's time, according to the Agricultural National Agricultural Statistics Service, yes, there is one, that actually provides these numbers. In one year in the United States of America, almost a quarter million sheep died by predatory animals, cougars, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes. That's a lot. So it's risky business. Of course, Jesus paid the ultimate price. He laid down his life, but I keep that, I want to put that in your mind because he's going to complete the sentence. Verse 16, another sheep I have which are not of this fold, them I must bring also.
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, here's the rest of it, that I might take it again. I'm laying it down in death. I'm taking it again in resurrection. Jesus laying down his life was not the end of the story.
The end of the story was he laid it down that he might take it again. We need to learn to finish the sentence. How are you doing? Oh, man, it's been hard lately. My life, I'm laying my life down. Finish the sentence.
Going to take it up again. God has plans for you. Unless he wants you in heaven, you're just going to lay it down and die right there, but probably you're not. So what I want you to see in terms of Jesus about the cross is that when he laid down his life, when he went to the cross and died, that wasn't a disaster. That was a design.
The cross wasn't a tragedy. It was a strategy. He announced it in advance. I'm laying down my life that I might take it again. And later he will say, I have the power to lay it down. I have the power to take it again.
Amazing who he is claiming to be. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, if you've been blessed by this ministry and want to bless others with the kind of teaching you've heard today, please consider a generous year-end gift to help meet our financial goal by December 31st. Through your support, you'll help encourage and equip more people with solid biblical teaching that takes them verse by verse through scripture and connects them with Jesus. To give a tax-deductible year-end gift today, call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash give. For more from Skip, be sure to download the Connect with Skip Heitzig app where you can access messages and more content right at your fingertips. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection Make a connection At the foot of the crossing Cast all burdens on His word Make a connection Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
