John 10:1-8
1. "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee for him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
- The doorkeeper is Jesus.
- The sheep are His church.
- The shepherd are us, the pastors, ministers, worship leaders, teachers, etc.
- If we want to worship God and lead the people into his presence we must do it coming through Jesus first. Without knowing what door to enter from, we cannot get to the sheep.
- We need to understand that they are His sheep, not ours. The voice they recognize is His voice and if we intend to lead them we must come by His name. If we come before them by our own name they will not recognize us, so we must come by the name of Jesus Christ.
- As pastors, as ministers, as worshipers, we cannot come to lead the people if it is not through Jesus. How can we come by His name? By getting to know Him, by building a relationship with Him. by building a relation with him we will learn how to enter into the presence of the Father. We will learn how to seek his guidance and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us before we lead His people.
- If we do not have a relationship with Him, how could we know the proper way to lead His people? How could we know what pleases God if we do not know Him? How can we know what is the path to take if we do not know Him?
- We cannot expect to lead His people into the presence of the Father if we do not know how to reach his heart, if we do not know the way to reach His presence. That way is Jesus Christ. He is the only way to the Father. In order to lead His people we must choose, every day, to take up our cross and follow Christ. We must choose to enter through the door who is Jesus Christ. If we try to enter by any other means that is not through Jesus Christ we will be like thieves, the sheep will not even recognize us.
7. Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep."
9. "I am the door. If anyone enter by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."
- It is only through Jesus that we find salvation. It is only through Him that we can enter into the presence of God. It is only through Him that we can go into the world and find pasture where there are sheep that are lost, in need of a pastor to lead them to Christ, to the cross.
10. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
- The thief is the devil.
11. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd give His life for the sheep."
14. "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am know by My own.
15. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep."
- The same way that Jesus is the way to the Father, so are we used to lead others to Christ.
16. "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd"
- The other sheep our the gentiles, in other words us, those of us who are not Jews.
- Jesus is referring to the body of Christ, to his Church, those who have in Jesus. It will not matter from what country we are, what ethnicity, what language we speak, we are in Christ one flock, one body, and He is our shepherd that leads us to the Father.
18. "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."
- He has power over death and life.
- He was letting us now He has the power to resurrect Himself from mortal death, which He did.
