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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. He asked a 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 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. 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.
It's your abundance. Jesus spoke about he who thirsts and comes to me and drinks out of his innermost 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. 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 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. And other 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. You're 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. Now verse 16, I want to draw your attention back to it. Are there sheep I have which are not of this fold? Them I must also bring and there will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd. He is speaking of those outside of the flock, the fold of Judaism, the Gentiles he's speaking of. Non-Jewish people.
That's me. That's probably most of you, 99.9% of you are Gentiles, non-Jewish people. The gospel was to go from Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. We're about as uttermost parts of the earth as you can get if you start at Jerusalem.
So we're out there. We're other sheep, man. And Paul in Ephesians called this the mystery, the mustarion that was kept back from people knowing it in the Old Testament. But now it's revealed in the New Testament. The mystery is that not that Gentiles would be saved or the Jews would be saved, but that Jew and Gentile would be placed in the same body, the same group, the same fold, other sheep I have.
There will be one flock, one shepherd. Because we're all related by Jesus. We're brothers and sisters because of Jesus.
So why is this important? Because in those days, at that time, in that place, the Jews believed there were two people in the earth. Jews and everybody else. Jews were going to heaven because of the covenant made with Abraham and the covenant of the law that they maintain given by Moses. They're going to heaven by bloodline and by the law of Moses. And then there's everybody else, the Gentiles. You know what happens to the Gentiles 2,000 years ago at that time at that place? You know what they thought about us? We're going to hell.
There's no hope for us. A Jewish man who was devout would wake up in the morning 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem and say this prayer. Listen to this prayer. Oh God, I thank you that I am not a slave, a Gentile, or a woman. That was a Jewish male that would pray that, by the way, as you can tell. Second, there was a saying that was widely believed that the reason God created Gentiles, you and I, was to make hell hotter.
To kindle the fires of hell. That was believed and taught. And it was sort of practiced in the temple because there were courts and the outer court was called the court of the? The outer court of the temple was called the court of the? Gentiles. Gentiles could hang out in the outer courts, listen to rabbis, but they couldn't get close.
You couldn't go into the court of the women, men, priests, etc. And there was a balustrator, a wall, and the wall had a sign. And the sign, by the way, has been found and discovered and it's in the museum in Israel. And it says, foreigners, Gentiles, are not permitted beyond this point and will be responsible for their own death if they try to cross it.
So there was a separation. Jesus comes and removes Ephesians chapter 2 and 3. He removes the boundary and brings those who are afar off and brings them near. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them I must also bring that there may be one flock and one shepherd. No one takes it from me. Verse 18, I lay it down to myself. I have the power to lay it down.
I have the power to take it again. This command I have received from my father. You're listening to connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, in order to connect even more people with Jesus in the year ahead, connect with Skip Heitzig needs to meet a financial goal by December 31st. And we're asking for your help to meet this goal in full so that together in 2025 we can reach more people with gospel-centered teaching and resources that connect them with the God who loves them. Finishing this year on solid financial footing will mean that connect with Skip Heitzig can grow current efforts and say yes to new opportunities in the coming year to expand to new stations, new countries, and new technologies, all with the goal of sharing the good news of Jesus with more people around the world. Your gift today will have an eternal impact on many lives. So go to connectwithskip.com slash give or call 800-922-1888 and give a tax-deductible year-end gift to help connect more people with Jesus in the year ahead. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip.
I just can't resist this. There's a principle that I see. I want to see if you resonate with this. He's explaining that he's the shepherd, and he's just not the shepherd, he's the good shepherd. What makes him a good shepherd? Well, he lays his life down for the sheep. What else makes him a good shepherd? He didn't stay down, he gets back up.
Right? Resurrection. And you might hear that and go, well, why would that make him a good shepherd?
Because Jesus said, I'll never leave you or forsake you. If he's dead permanently, he can't fulfill that promise. If he gets up from the dead, he could do that.
He could now fulfill that promise. If he lives forever and he says, guess what? I'm always going to hang out with you. I'm always going to be there. Just abide in me. I'll come to you. I'll give you my strength. I'll be with you. I'll be with you to the end of the age. Now that promise makes sense, right?
So that's a great aspect of this great shepherd. Now, some of you who are Bible students and thinking ahead are going, but wait a minute. That sounds good, but he rose from the dead. Then he ascended into heaven. He said, bye, left.
So how is this good news? Well, why did he ascend into heaven? To help you and to send the Holy Spirit. If I'm here, I can't send the Holy Spirit. But if I go, I will send him. He'll be with you.
He will be in you. So, Jesus now in heaven, do you know what he's doing? He's seated at the right hand of the Father, but he's working. His work didn't end at the cross.
His redemptive work ended at the cross. But do you know that he is still working today, right now? Do you know what he's doing? He's advocating. He's interceding for you. He is, Hebrews 7, I think 25, I may be mistaken, but I know it's in Hebrews 7. He ever lives, listen, he ever lives to make intercession for us.
You know what? I prayed for you this morning. I prayed for you throughout the day. Those of you who are here tonight, I prayed for you.
Now, that'll probably make you feel good. Oh, the pastor prayed for us. Better news, Jesus prays for you to the Father. His work of intercession goes on. That's a great shepherd.
I lay it down that I might take it again, this command I have given from my Father. Therefore, there was a division again among the Jews because of these things, and many of them said, He has a demon. They keep coming up with this, don't they? And he's nuts, he's 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? Okay, stop there. You see the period in verse 21, and you see the first letter in verse 22 of now, N? There's two to three months between that period and that first letter. We have been at the Feast of Tabernacles. When we open up to verse 22, it's not the fall any longer, it's not September, October, it is now December. It is the Jewish month of Kislev in the wintertime, two to three months later in verse 22. It says now, it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.
So a few months have elapsed. It is now the Feast of Dedication, it says in verse 22. And then verse 23, Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. The Feast of Dedication, I find interesting that Jesus is in Jerusalem attending the celebration of the Feast of Hanukkah. That's what it is, the Feast of Hanukkah. I say I find it interesting because it's not a biblical feast. It's not at all in the Old Testament. Israel was never commanded to keep it, ever.
It is something that happened between the Old and the New Testament around 164 B.C. But I just find it interesting because some people get all hung up and mad if we keep Christmas. If you're a true Christian, why would you celebrate a holiday that's not a biblical holiday? Well, I just find it interesting that Jesus is celebrating a holiday that's not a biblical holiday. It's the Feast of Dedication. Jesus is going to celebrate. He didn't say, no, I'm going to abstain from that. It's not in the Bible.
He's there. It's a celebration. What were they celebrating? What was Hanukkah celebrating?
It's called the Feast of Lights. So I'll try to make a long story short. Alexander the Great, how many of you have heard of his name? That's because he was great. OK, so Alexander the Great wanted to conquer the world, got pretty close. He died at a young age in Babylon. When he died on his deathbed, they asked him, to whom will the kingdom go? He said this sentence, give it to the strong. They didn't know what he meant because he said that and died. Give it to the strong armies, the strong people, the strong your family, who?
But that's all. So what they did is the kingdom was divided between his four generals. You want to know their name?
Thank you for asking. Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. Those four generals, those four men took over the whole Grecian Empire. Seleucus was given the area of Greece and Macedonia. Lysimachus was given the area of Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, and Thrace, T-H-R-A-C-E, the Thracian Empire, which is southeast Europe today. Seleucus was given the area of Syria and Babylonia and Ptolemy spelled with a P-T-O-L-E-M-Y. Ptolemy was given Egypt, North Africa, and Arabia. So the kingdom of Alexander the Great, the known world pretty much he controlled, was given to these four men.
All was well. They wanted to further the design of Alexander spreading Greek culture around the world. In the middle between the Seleucid or the Seleucus and his empire, Seleucid Empire of Syria and Ptolemy, Egypt, right between those two empires was a very interesting little nation known as Israel. So you have all of these nations capitulating saying, sure man, we'll become like Greeks, we'll speak Greek culture, we'll do everything, language, culture, we'll do whatever you want, except the Jews. The Jews were very independent, they didn't want to capitulate, they didn't want to give in, they wanted to retain their Judaism, they're not going to worship any of the pagan gods, et cetera, et cetera. So there was this fighting between the north and southern kingdoms, it's detailed in the book of Daniel, I'll spare you.
But as the years wore on, eventually there came the eighth in line of the Seleucid kings in the north known as Antiochus IV. Antiochus IV was nicknamed the Beast by the Jews. He was so intent in making these Jews bow that he attacked Jerusalem and killed 80,000 Jews, took 40,000 of them captive. Desecrated the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and getting a pig and sacrificing the flesh of a swine and so all the blood would run down on the altar and you know anything about Judaism, pigs ain't cool, right? He defiled the temple, the Jews called that the abomination of desolation.
It was the ultimate sacrilege. People were forced to convert from Judaism to this belief system, worship Zeus. I have a lot of stories about what happened in Jerusalem during that time. So, a revolt started by a group called the Maccabees, some of you have heard of the Maccabean Revolt. The Maccabees were a group of priests in a village south of Jerusalem known as Modin.
This Hasmonean dynasty was headed by a guy named Mathathias and his sons Judas, Maccabees, and the other boys. They started a revolt. They were successful in cleansing the temple and driving the Syrian forces back.
In 164 BC, they rededicated the temple to Yahweh, to God. And they wanted to light the candlestick, the menorah inside the holy place. Well, they only had enough oil, the story goes, the legend goes, they only had enough oil that would last them one day.
One day. It takes, according to Judaism, eight days to make olive oil to be purified to the right extent and extract to provide oil for the temple. So, they only have one cruise of oil that would last one day in the temple. They won't be able to make oil for another eight days. So, they light the menorah and miraculously, this is all according to legend, but miraculously, it stayed lit, not just one day, but two days, three days, four days, five days, six days, seven days, eight days.
Eight days while they were making a fresh batch of oil, the oil that should have lasted one day's worth lasted eight days. So, it's called the Festival of Light. So, you see every year in wintertime, Jewish people have a lamp stand called a hanukiah. A hanukiah has nine branches on it, a menorah has seven.
Nine because one is the lead candle that you light the other eight candles with, celebrating the feast, the Festival of Lights. Not a biblical holiday, comes from legend. Jesus is in the temple celebrating it.
It is winter. I'm giving you all of that because at Hanukkah, there arose these intense feelings among the Jews for the Messiah to come. But the Messiah they want is like Judas Maccabeus and Mattathias Maccabeus. They want a strong army man, general guy, overturning the Romans.
We want a guy who's going to overthrow the government like those guys. Jesus is there and that helps you understand verse 24. The Jews surrounded him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Okay, I hear this stuff about the Messiah.
If you're him, tell us. Okay, because they're celebrating Judas Maccabeus and Mattathias and overturning Antiochus Epiphanes and all that stuff that we just told you about. And so Jesus gives his answer and we'll look at that next time. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you of the financial year-end need that must be met by December 31 to ensure this ministry you love stays strong, reaching millions more in the year ahead. Your gift today will help share gospel-centered teaching with more people in 2025, making an impact that will last for eternity.
So jump in with your best year-end gift. Call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash give. And did you know that you can find full message series and libraries of content from Skip Heitzig on YouTube? Simply visit the Connect with Skip Heitzig channel on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to the channel so you never miss any new content. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
