Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ.
Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. The Word of God is the different hats that Jesus wears. You know, when you get saved and you just take Jesus for who He is, you have no idea who He is. We don't have any idea how great He is. We don't know all the things that He does and all the needs that He meets. We just don't know Him like we need to know Him or should know Him. You know, that's what getting saved is all about. You've got your lifetime now to get to know Him.
And you can't get to know all about Him. You could spend every hour of your waking moment with Jesus and He would still be new every morning. But this morning I would like to start with seeing Him as our Shepherd. And there's numerous things you think, well, why aren't we going to Psalm 23?
I've preached on Psalm 23 here in the past. But I want you to look at John chapter 10 this morning. And our first message in this series of See My Jesus, we want to look at Him as our Shepherd.
I've entitled this morning our message My Sheep. Look at John chapter 10, if you will, and we'll begin reading in verse 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that enterth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that enterth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers.
Let me just stop right there and say this. One of the sure signs that you've been saved by the grace of God is that you are not so easily led astray by things that are biblically incorrect. You're not easily led astray by preachers that have tickling ears and a lot of wonderful things to say, and it sounds good. I want you to discern, listen to me, what is the voice of God and what is the voice of a stranger. And may we always in this church only allow in this pulpit things that are biblical, what would be the voice of our Savior. We're not here to entertain and we're not here to just be politically correct. We're here to teach what the Bible has to say.
I want to read on a little bit more if I can. Let me reiterate that in verse 5. A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. You say why are so many people leaving our churches and going to many other things?
It could be that they're following a stranger. It could be that they're not listening to the voice of God. It could be that maybe they have never truly been saved. Doesn't mean that a person that would leave this particular church, oh that means they're not saved. Don't get me wrong dear friends, I'm saying people that leave biblically correct doctrine and follow something that is totally anti-bible. I question whether or not that individual was ever really saved or not.
Now let's read on if you will. I want you to look at verse 9. Jesus says this, I am the door.
By me if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find passion. Look at verse 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And all God's people said to that?
Amen. Aren't you thankful that the good shepherd gave his life for us? Notice if you will verse 14. I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me even so know I the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Notice if you would verse 19. There is a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. You know there was always division when it came to Jesus. Can I say this Jesus, people say well Jesus gathers people together. You're right and that's true.
But can I say this? The name of Jesus also divides. Nothing has divided people more than the name of Jesus. I mean you talk about the division it brings in people, the division it brings in politics, and may I say there was always division around Jesus when it came to the religious leaders. I don't find much division around Jesus around sinners.
Are you looking at me? I didn't see a whole boatload of drunks divided about Jesus. I see in scripture a whole bunch of people that had a life of sin that were thankful for him. They weren't divided.
They were glad to have him. The division always came around religion. And can I say this? You stay away from religion. You get in the Bible. You stay away from religion.
I'm going somewhere with all this. I know you hope so. Alright look at verse 20. And many of them said he hath the devil and is mad. Why hear ye him? Others said these are not the words of him that hath the devil.
Can a devil open the eyes? Of the blind. Now look at verse 22. And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
Notice this. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Verse 25. Jesus answered them, I told you and you believed not.
The works that I do in my father's name, they are not of me. But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep as I said unto you. Now verse 27 begins our text verses for this morning. This is what Jesus said. My sheep, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand.
I and my father are one. Father we thank you for being our shepherd. This morning we want to do justice to your word and Lord as we talk about this simple truth that when we are saved we then become one of your sheep. And so Lord as we look in the Bible and discern what it means to be one of your sheep, Lord I pray you'd help us to divide your word correctly. In your name we pray. Amen. Let me say this first.
The most exciting thing I find in all of this I'm going to tell you right off at the very start. And that's in verse 27 where Jesus says this. My sheep. Aren't you glad we belong to him?
Can I say this? He doesn't belong to us. We belong to him. He's the one holding us.
We're not the one holding him. My dad's often told the story hunting as a kid and my grandpa and my dad were going up kind of a mountain and they had their guns and they're going up to do some hunting. And as they're trying to climb up my dad had his gun.
You're trying to keep the muzzle out of the dirt you know so you got the gun up and you're trying to climb up this steep part. And my dad's dad was in front of him going up ahead and my dad began to slip and the gun began to fall down. That's a dangerous thing to do.
That's a dangerous situation. And so my grandpa looked back down and he said Dan give me your hand. And so when he reached down his hand my dad as a young man reached up and grabbed my grandpa's arm. And my grandpa took his arm and slapped his arm. He said I didn't say take me let me take you. My dad didn't go anywhere.
You know why? If my dad was holding on to him when he slipped what would he have tried to do? He would have tried to catch himself and would have fallen. You know why he didn't fall? Because he wasn't holding my grandpa.
My grandpa was holding him. Can I say this what a privilege it is to be his sheep. He looks down with ownership.
He looks down with possession. They are my sheep. And you know what? God doesn't discipline everybody that's not his sheep. He disciplines his sheep. And when you go through discipline and when you go through things I know it's difficult but aren't you glad to know that you're one of his sheep. First thing when it comes to being his sheep he says this number one my sheep hear my voice.
First characteristic of one of his sheep he says they hear my voice. I find something interesting that in the Old Testament you find much about God hearing our voice. You find men saying God oh hear my prayer. God hear my voice.
God hear this. But in the New Testament now it's man hearing God. And that brings us to Revelation chapter 3 verse 20 when he says I stand at the door and knock. If any man what? Hear my voice and open the door I will come in unto him and sup with him and he with me.
Speaking of salvation. Now let me ask you something when I do this. What am I doing? I'm knocking. Why did he say I stand at the door knock if any man hear my voice? Hearing his voice has nothing to do with knocking. Have you ever thought about that? That means this when the Holy Spirit is knocking on your heart's door he's not just doing this.
He's doing this. You need Jesus. You need Jesus.
You need to accept him. You need God. You need saved.
Listen to me. That is proof that the Holy Spirit draws all men unto himself. That's why that's what happens in salvation.
You and I are convicted. The Holy Spirit comes. He begins to work on our heart and soften our heart and let us know that we have need of a savior. That's why in order to become one of his sheep you have to hear his voice.
Do you hear it this morning? If you've never been saved and you feel a little bit uncomfortable let me tell you what it is. It's the Holy Spirit convicting your heart.
It's the Holy Spirit knocking on your heart's door and he's crying out you need Jesus. My sheep hear my voice. Second thing he talks about him is this and I know them.
I know them. This is a wonderful point to me. You know what that word no means?
It means to be aware of, to feel. And Jesus says when you're one of my sheep I know you. Listen to me. That is proof of eternal security. Because the thing that keeps you saved is not whether you think you know him or not. What keeps you saved is whether or not he knows you. And if you've been saved and you've given your heart to Christ he knows you. And that's what's important. You say yeah but I messed up the other day and I made a boo boo and I did wrong and I just don't know if I'm saved.
Listen to me dear friend. Whether you did right or did wrong isn't what saved you. The blood of Christ saved you. And when you accepted him as your savior the Bible says he now knows you as one of his sheep. And you can go mess up and you can go do wrong and you ought to feel guilty about it and you need to get it right with God.
But guess what? He's still your sheep. He's still your shepherd.
He says I know them. That means this Psalm 103 14 says he knoweth our frame. He rememberth that we are as dust. That means this he knows how much we can take. He knows how we're built. He knows our frame. He knows our limits.
He knows everything about it. Deuteronomy 2 7 says for the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness these forty years the Lord God hath been with thee.
What is he talking about? This is when the children of Israel were going through the wilderness and the Bible says that God knew they're wondering. He watched them.
He'd been with them for forty years. That means this God knows your need. He knows exactly where you are. He knows what you're traveling. He knows what you're going through. He knows the circumstances that you're facing right now. You say preacher nobody knows how I feel. I know exactly how you feel.
I've had times in my life especially recently. Nobody seems to care. Nobody seems to understand. Nobody seems to grasp what you're going through.
But listen to me dear friend. There is one person that knows exactly what you're going through because he's been going through it with you every step of the way and that's your shepherd. He knows our need. He knows our path.
The Bible says in Job 23 10 he knoweth the way that I take when he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold. God knows exactly where you are. The Bible says in Psalm 44 21 shall not God search this out for he knows and knoweth the secrets of the heart. God doesn't just know your need. He doesn't just know your path. He doesn't just know your limits. He doesn't just know your frame.
Are you looking at me? He knows what you have need of. He knows about that bill you can't pay. He knows about it. You say but preacher I just don't understand. Listen to me.
He knows the secrets of the heart. Your wife doesn't know about it. Your husband doesn't know about it. Your kids don't know about it.
Nobody knows about it. Look at me. God knows you. If you are one of his sheep he knows you and he knows the secrets of your heart. Let me tell you something dear friend.
You can get by with it from the wife for a while and you can get it by the husband for a while and you can keep it hidden from the boss at work for a while and you might be able to keep it hidden from the people at church or the preacher at church or the neighbors across the road but you've never hidden it from the people at church but you've never hidden it from God. You're his sheep. He knows you. He knows what you're doing. He knows what you're into. He knows you're in over your head. He knows it.
And he's waiting for you to come back to him. He knoweth them nay whom one seven says the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him. 1 Corinthians 8 13 but if any man love God the same is known of him.
Can I tell you this? You have a Savior that is your shepherd and your shepherd knows you and he knows what to let you get by with and what not to let you get by with. He knows what will lead you in the wrong direction. He knows when maybe a little too much money is going to change you and when he knows that maybe too few trials will make you comfortable. He knows what you need. He knows your path. He knows your frame. He knows if you're trusting him. He knows you. He knows you.
Third thing I find is this. Not only does my sheep hear my voice, not only do I know them, but third, they follow me. If you're one of his sheep, you know what our job to do is? To follow him. You know what that tells me? It's not my job to follow any of you.
And guess what that means? Your job isn't to follow me. Your job is to follow God. Can I say this? We've got to quit trying to be somebody else. We've got to quit trying to make everybody else happy. You ought to be making God happy. And can I tell you this? God has higher standards than any man around. So if you can say, hey, I'm going to live the way I want to live because I don't have to answer anybody but God.
You're exactly right. Take your chance on that one. Have at that. See how that works out for you.
Let me tell you something. You don't ought to be like some preacher. You don't need to be like some man.
You don't have to do things somebody's way. You get in God's word. You answer to him. You're his sheep.
You follow him. We need to quit trying to be like every other ministry. We need to quit trying to be like every other church. We need to quit trying to do things the way everybody else does it. And we need to find out what God wants and do that.
It's not popular, but all God's people said. Amen. Let me tell you what I'm getting a little bit weary of, folks. I haven't had a Krispy Kreme for two weeks, so I'm a little bit mean. It's time to vent. I'm getting weary of raising kids that have learned how to do things the way we want them, but they've not learned to love God for themself.
Getting tired of it. And can I say this, mom and dad, your kids know if you're real or if you're not. They know if you're consistent or if you're not. And let me tell you something, there's nothing worse to a teenager than to see somebody judge them for the exact same thing that they do. You know what the Bible says? The Bible says, judge not that you be not judged. And I preached it, we all say that means you shouldn't judge.
No, it doesn't mean that. It means this, the next verse says, for with the same meat you judge, you will be judged. What he's talking about is hypocrisy.
Don't you go judge somebody for the exact same thing you do. We've had people over the past and in our so-called religion, I guess you wanna call it, or our so-called denomination, and they pick one, two, or three things that's their things, and if you do them, you're not right, and you're a hellion, and you're a liberal, and you're a whatever, and if you do one of those two, three things, but yet they got a whole list of things in their life that they do themselves, but it's not on their list, so they think they're okay. Listen to me, I'm preaching you the truth this morning. You listen to me. Let me tell you something, we need to quit trying to do everything the way somebody told us to do, and we need to get in the Bible and find out what God wants from us.
We got kids that are growing up and leaving, they can't wait to get out of here, and you know why? Not because we didn't preach the truth, not because we don't love them, but because all they saw was hypocrisy. Dear friends, can I say this? You can have rules, and you can have convictions, and you can live a holy life and a pure life, and you can do it with love and compassion, and you can be real about it, and if you're not, don't pretend.
Can I have an amen right there? Listen to me, if it ain't you, don't pretend it. Be yourself, you know what I want as a pastor?
I want you to be yourself. I don't want you to, every time you see me, you're scared that maybe I'll think something about you or what you're wearing or where you're going or what you're listening to. Listen to me, you don't have to worry about me. I love you. I don't care.
You take it up with him. And I'll make a deal with you. If I'll let you do that, will you let me be me? Will you let me be me? Let me be Daniel Haughtry. I ain't Joe Myers. I can never be Joe Myers. There's no way I could ever be, I would go crazy if I was Joe Myers. That man is so patient, it about drives me nuts. I can get 20 things done in the time that it takes him to get ready to do something, and guess what I'm doing the rest of the day? Putting out all the fires I started by doing it without thinking.
I'm exaggerating a little bit, but guess what? I am Daniel Haughtry. And guess who I answer to? I answer to God. I want you to love me. Anybody's an idiot that say I don't care if people love me.
Yes, you do. I want you to love me, and I want you to respect me, and I want you to try to follow our leadership here because I believe, I know, and have known for a while where God wants us to get to as a church. But I want you to know something. I cannot help you, and God can't help you till you become real. I can't help you till you just be yourself. Don't put on a show for Daniel Haughtry. Don't put on a show for the deacons. Don't put on a show for the church. Be you.
Be who you are. You're not my sheep. You're his sheep. We belong to him.
Whatever you got, take it up with him. I'm not gonna judge you for what you're doing. I'm not gonna judge you for what you're wearing. I'm not gonna judge you for what I'm wearing. You can wear what you want, let me wear my spandex, okay? I just won't preach in them, I promise. Better get on to the next point. My mind's going too fast right now.
I think of so many things to say that are a bit inappropriate, all right. The next thing I notice in verse 28, notice this. And I give unto them what? Eternal life. You know what it means to be one of his sheep? Listen to me, he gives you eternal life.
You say, well, I understand, I don't know if you really get all this, listen to me. God gave us an eternal soul. When God created us, because God created us, we are eternal. Because we were created in the image of God, listen to me, we have an eternal soul. That's why we will either be in heaven or hell for an eternity, one of two places. Simply because our souls can never die, we're eternal. Because God spoke breath, he gave life into existence. And because God's the one that did that, he's an eternal being, and so now we are.
You got that, okay? God gave us an eternal soul, listen to me. Jesus died on the cross to give us eternal life. We have an eternal soul, but Jesus gave us eternal life. In fact, you know what the Bible says? Jesus says, I came that they might have life and that they might have it more, what?
Abundantly, that's why he came. I give them, not just an eternal soul. In fact, he didn't say, I give them an eternal existence. He said, if you're my sheep, I give you eternal life.
And there's a big difference. Oh, dear friend, if you don't know him as your shepherd, if you've never given your heart to Christ, you're missing out, they shall never perish. Verse 28, look at the second part. He says, I give them eternal life, I give them eternal life, I give them eternal life. And notice this, he says, they shall never perish. Let me read you two verses.
2 Thessalonians chapter two tells us this. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of truth that they might be saved. You and I don't have to perish, we can have eternal life. And this is what Jesus says, when I'm your shepherd, I give you eternal life, and that means I give you eternal life, and that means die.
Did you know that? The word perish means this, you can no longer be used for what you had intended to be used for. Perish doesn't mean death, you know why? Our soul can't die. That means this, if you perish, your soul doesn't die, that means you go to hell.
That means that wasn't what you were created for. But if you refuse Christ, you die, and you go to a Christless eternity in hell. If you refuse Christ to perish, listen to me. God says if you are my sheep, my sheep, I give my sheep eternal life, and my sheep shall never perish. Let me read you one more verse, 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Listen to me, what does that mean to you? It means this, if you are not one of Jesus' sheep, if you have never been saved, that verse just tells me he desires for you to be one of his sheep. He wants you.
Isn't that good news? If you're here this morning, you don't know you're saved, guess what, he wants you, he desires you. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Let me give you these last three things. Verse 28, at the end, he says this, and I thought this was very interesting. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
That means this, our next point is this, he says they'll never be able to pluck them out of my hand. Now, you say, well, how big is that? I hope you were here last Sunday.
Did you guys take the time? You all remember, I think it was a couple years ago, I preached on Psalm 34, and I described the solar system, and I described the planets, and I described the massiveness. Brother Tyler did a wonderful job last Sunday preaching all day long, and last Sunday morning, he described to you, listen to me, you have no idea what it means that Jesus says that nobody can pluck you out of his hand. That is another sure sign of eternal security, what it means, once I'm saved, I'm always saved, because not even you can pluck yourself out of his hand.
Now, listen to me, if there was nothing else, that would be amazing that we have a shepherd that protects us to the point that we can never lose what he's given, salvation. Now, for sake of time, and I'm gonna come back to that, I want you to notice verse 29. He says this about his sheep, my father, which gave them me.
Now, it's time for us to learn a little bit of doctrine real quick before we go home. That means this, Jesus says that God gave us to Jesus. Why would God have the right? He's the creator. Listen to me, Jesus didn't create you, God created you. You are his creation, all right?
And that means this, that we are owned by God and we are created. But God, the Bible says, let me read you the verse in John chapter five. For as the father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will. For the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. Listen to me, that all men should honor the son, even as they honor the father. He that honoreth not the son, honoreth not the father which sent him.
What does that mean? When God gave Jesus, he gave all judgment to him, which means this, he is gonna let Jesus pass judgment on us. When he did that, he gave every one of us to Jesus. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kirtland Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You can also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kirtlandbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you.
