Run With It: His Sheep Listen and Follow

Monday, December 5, 2022

His Sheep Listen and Follow

Video Talk

John 10:7,9-10,27-30 ESV

“So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep… I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’”

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

When Jesus Christ said that he is the door of the sheep and that if anyone enters by him that he will be saved, this is not speaking of any old door or just a door with the name of Jesus written on it. This door is the gospel of our salvation, it is the way of the cross of Christ and the way to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God. So we need to read Jesus’ words to see what that door looks like so we make certain that we are entering in through his door and not another door made to look like his.

For he said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we die with him to our old lives that we might live to him and to his righteousness, then we have life in him everlasting. For he said that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven.

But there are many “thieves and robbers” who are false shepherds of the people and who are charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing who are trying to convince people that they don’t have to die to sin, that they don’t have to repent of their sins, and that they don’t have to follow Jesus in obedience. And they are teaching them that a mere profession of faith in Jesus is enough to grant them forgiveness of all sin and to guarantee them heaven as their eternal destiny, regardless of how they live their lives.

And they are commonly quoting verses 28-30 here out of the context of verse 27, and thus they are applying those promises broadly to all people who have made a one-time profession of faith in Christ. But that is not true to the context nor to the teachings of the New Testament, as a whole. For the promises given in verses 28-30 apply to those who are listening to the Lord, and who are heeding his words, and who are following him in obedience, in daily practice. So please take this to heart.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9AONPo7knE

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How Long Till the Morning

Scripture: I Thessalonians 4:17

By C. E. Couchman

Consider the mornings of this mortal land,

Each a new beginning from the Maker’s hand.

While the storms may gather ‘gainst the evening sky,

The day breaks cloudless in the morning.

Rise up to the battle, for the skies dawn clear.

Let us gather courage while the foe draws near.