The Life Only Jesus Gives

So, if we combine those two statements in John chapter 10, Jesus came that we might have abundant life and that we might have eternal life. Life that stretches beyond this world, life that goes beyond the grave, life that lasts for eternity.

I once heard somebody say, and it was such a good phrase, “I believe that I shall live as long as God lives because God has become my life.” That's the kind of life that Jesus came to offer us.

Now we need to look for a moment at this contrast, the two persons pictured in the words that I've read to you. There's the life-giver, Jesus, and there's the life-taker, who's not named, but his name of course is Satan. If anybody ever told us the truth about Satan, it was Jesus, and he said some very unpleasant things. He said that he was a liar, that he was a murderer, and that he was a thief, and that he never comes into our life to do us any good. We surely do need to give heed to that warning.

Now, a liar doesn't tell the truth, and a thief doesn't announce that he's coming. Or if he comes, he doesn't attract your attention to his presence. He doesn't tell you why he's come. One of the main ways in which Satan has power over humanity is by deception. He doesn't tell us the truth. In fact, in the book of Revelation, it says he's the great serpent that is the ancient serpent that deceives the whole world. So be on your guard against deception.

Satan has some very nice titles that he gives himself. He portrays himself in a very false way. He wants you to think that he's come that you may have a wonderful time, that you may really see life to the full. You don't need all these old-fashioned restrictions of religious people. You just need to live it up. You need to indulge yourself. One of the sayings we hear this day is, “if it feels good, do it.” I want to tell you the voice behind that has got the serpent’s hiss, because he knows that if you do that, sooner or later, it will stop feeling good. And you'll begin to realize that you're a captive, that you're a prisoner, that he didn't come to do you good. He didn't come to give you life, he came to take your life. Your life physically, your life morally, your life spiritually. He's your enemy. He's not your friend. He's a deceiver. Don't believe him. Believe Jesus. Jesus always told us the truth.

If you want life, eternal life, abundant life, that is in Jesus. It's not in the enemy. It's not in the thief. And if you want life, you can have it. You can have Jesus as your life-giving shepherd. But remember, you have to come through the door.

Now we're going to look for a little while at the other side of the coin. We've looked at the shepherd, now let's look at the sheep as portrayed in this parable of the sheepfold. What are their distinguishing marks? In other words, what marks out real Christians in this world? How may we recognize them? More important still, how may we know that we belong to them ourselves?

The answer is really not complicated. In terms of that parable, it's very simple. I want to give you three distinctive marks of the sheep, that is, the true Christians, the true believers, the real disciples of Jesus.

First of all, they enter the sheepfold by the door. They don't try to climb up some other way. They acknowledge that they are sinners. They believe that Jesus by his death on the cross paid the penalty for their sins, that he shed his blood that they might be redeemed, forgiven, and become his sheep and receive eternal life. They are not proud, they're not self-righteous, they're not all bound up with their own religious concepts and ideas. They're humble. They just have come to the end of themselves. They've seen that all that they can do is not sufficient.

“All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”

Not all our good deeds, not all our bad deeds, but our good deeds are as filthy rags. A person has to come to that place. I can't handle this thing myself. I don't have the answer. I'm not good enough. I am a captive of sin. I need a liberator. I need a deliverer. I need a savior. And when a person comes to that place, then that person can truly enter by the gate, by the death of Jesus Christ on his behalf. Remember, Christ crucified is the gate. Christ resurrected is the shepherd. But in order to have the resurrected Christ as your shepherd, you first have to enter through the gate of his atoning death.

So that's the first mark of the true sheep. They've entered by the door, Jesus crucified. The second mark is very, very simple, but very profound. Jesus says,

“My sheep hear my voice. They follow me.”

What is that? It's a direct, personal, intimate relationship. It's not church membership. It's not a doctrinal statement. It's not the repetition of a creed or some sacrament. All those things may be good in their place, but none of them is a substitute for that personal relationship. “My sheep hear my voice.” They know me. And furthermore, they also reject the voice of a stranger. They are not deceived by religious substitutes. They do not follow into cults and false teachings because they hear the voice of Jesus.

That's the mark of sheep in the biblical culture. They did not, they were not driven by the shepherd, but they followed him and they followed him because they heard his voice. And it's still the same today in the land of the Bible, in Israel, still today, you'll see shepherds leading their sheep by their voice. So remember, Jesus does not drive. He does not compel. He leads. But he leads only those who can hear his voice. If we cannot hear his voice, then we cannot follow him.

And then the third mark is again, very simple.

“My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.”

That's what? That's obedience. In one simple word, it's doing what Jesus says we are to do. It's being able to hear his voice and then obey it.

So, what are those two last marks? What do they speak to us of? A direct personal relationship and obedience to the Lord. That's what marks out the sheep of Jesus, the true Christians. You see, it's not a denominational label. It's not a doctrinal statement. It's not a form of religion. The true sheep of Jesus can be dressed in many different ways. They can be dressed in very modern dress or they can wear some kind of garb that marks out a special order of the church. It isn't the outward marks, it's the inward attitude and relationship.

Don't just look for the sheep of Jesus in one particular section of the church, but look for those people that have that relationship with him, that they can hear his voice and follow him. And above all, make sure that you are one of those people.