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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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One Shepherd, One Flock |
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John
10:16 Second
Sunday after Easter April
18, 2010 "And
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock and one
shepherd." Before
we go into the sermon for today, let me call to your mind a few verses of
Scripture. The first is Romans 10:13, "Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved."
The second is the well known and well beloved verse, John 3:16,
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." Third is a verse
that is unfortunately not well known, yet is a very important verse in
Scripture. It is Revelation
22:17; "And let him who is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely."
The reason I call your attention to these verses is because they
contain the word, "whosoever." In the Greek text, the
construction is a little different in each of these verses, but the
meaning of each is expressed very well in our good old English word,
"whosoever." We
don't say "whosoever" much anymore.
Today we say, "any one," or "everyone," or
"whoever." But the meaning is the same and if you want to put
that into the place of "whosoever" in these verses, you will
arrive at the very same meaning and intent, which is to say that the
Kingdom of Heaven is open to everyone who wants to come in.
"Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." "Whosoever
believeth in him" will not perish but has everlasting life."
"Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely."
Who will be saved? Who
will be forgiven of all their sin? Who
will be counted as righteous and holy in the eyes of God? Who will be acquitted on that terrible Day of Judgment, when
all will stand before God to give an account of their lives and their
sins? Who will enter the
gates of Heaven? Who
will have eternal life with God? Who
will be saved from hell? "Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
"Whosoever
believeth in him" has eternal life." "Whosoever
will," may take the water of life freely." Whosoever will may
come, and "Whosoever," as Edwin McConnell wrote in his old
Gospel song, "surely meaneth me." Whosoever surely meaneth you. In
John 10:16 Christ is speaking to the disciples, telling them of His
mission and purpose for Himself, and for them.
They do not understand. They
will not fully understand until the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit
comes to them. They do not
understand because the things of God are spiritual and can only be
understood as the Spirit gives understanding.
But Christ is saying here that His Kingdom is far greater and far
more open than the disciples or the Jewish people of that day think.
The Lord has other sheep that are not of this fold. "This
fold" is the Jewish nation. They
have been the fold for more
than two thousand years as Christ speaks these words. But Jesus is saying
He has sheep outside of the Jewish people, and, they too will hear His
voice and become part of His Flock, and there will be one Shepherd and one
Flock. Christ is saying
something here that the disciples would have found disgusting, had they
understood it. The other
sheep He speaks of are Gentiles who will become Christians and be brought
into the Fold with the Jews. The disciples had been taught from birth that
the Messiah's job was to eradicate the Gentiles and give the world to the
Jews and their children's children forever. But Jesus continuously
rejected that view of the Messiah's mission.
According to Jesus, His Kingdom is "not of this world."
His Kingdom transcends all other kingdoms.
His Kingdom is for people of all
nations, all races, and all
tongues. The good tidings of
great joy are for "all
people" (Lk. 2:11). Gentiles
will become heirs of the Kingdom with the disciples. They will be brought
into the same Fold and the same Flock.
And there will be one Flock and one Shepherd. In
another way, we can say the other sheep are those who have not yet become
Christians, but will. When
God told Paul He had many people in Corinth, He did not mean they were
already Christians. They were people who were yet to hear the Gospel, yet
to believe, and yet be converted. There
are always more people to be added to the flock. There are yet souls to be
won. There is yet hope for
those who are not in the fold. He
has, "other sheep." It
is very important that we understand the means by which the other sheep
will be brought into the flock. We
notice that there is one flock, and we must understand that the Flock is
the Kingdom of Christ. His
Kingdom is found on earth in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
Church, the Body of Christ, the fellowship of all faithful people.
I will talk more about this Flock on other occasions.
Today I want to emphasise the means by which people enter into the
Flock. As we can easily see
in this passage, becoming a member of the Flock is to become one of
Christ's sheep, which is to be saved.
Who may become a member of His Flock?
Whosoever will may come into this Flock. Whosoever will may come
into His salvation. But there is only one way to come in, and that is by
the only Door of the Sheep, Jesus Christ. In John 10:9 Jesus said, "I
am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in
and out and find pasture." Notice
He did not say, "I am a door." He did not say He is but one of many ways to God.
If there were other ways to God it would have been foolish and
useless for God to come to earth and die on the cross, for we could all
get to Heaven without His sacrifice. There is no other way. There is no other door.
All must come in through Christ, or they will not come in at all. That
is why Christ Himself says, "them also I must bring." He
brings them in by means of His Gospel.
The Gospel is the good tidings of great joy. It is the reality that God has come to this planet and
suffered and died for the sins of His people. All who truly repent and
unfeignedly believe this in biblical faith are forgiven of their sins and
made members of His Flock. Thus
I may say to you in full confidence that if you have truly repented and
truly accepted Christ as your Lord and Saviour, your sins are forgiven.
If you have not come into the Fold, the Door is open.
Jesus is the way the truth and the life. He is the Door of the sheep. Come into His Fold today.
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