The Good Shepherd's Bold Declarations - John 10:19-30

1:30Going to look at, but a shepherd was the final authority over the sheep. And if you're going to follow the good shepherd, you're going to have to give up your sovereignty. And it's the one thing we really don't want to give up. And we're going to repeatedly have to give over our sovereignty. This is why we have to pick up our crosses daily and follow him, because you're going to die a million deaths, so to speak, in following Christ, because we're constantly going to be giving up our own sovereignty and following him because he is good, he knows what we need, and he always follows in the best way.

2:24And what a joy it is. Well, in John chapter 10, we've been looking at the abundant life. The question, how do we get God's abundant life blessing on our lives? Well, chapter 10 and verse 10, he says, I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly, a key verse through this passage that we've been working through. And Jesus explains in chapter 10, he explains that he is both the door into the abundant life and he is the good shepherd who takes us. Into the abundant life. He is the door and the one who leads us through the door. And as the door, Jesus is necessary for us to pass through in order to come into God's blessing. There is no other way.

3:16And as the good shepherd, Jesus leads us through that door because he deeply cares for us, he intimately knows us, he sacrificially gives to his people, and he forever and perpetually shepherds his people. That's where we've been. Now we'll pick up these words. We'll pick up our narrative here in verse 19. Jesus has just talked about him being the door, talked about him being the shepherd. And in verse 19, we'll just pick up and read. A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, he has a demon and he is insane. Why do you listen to him? Others were saying, these are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?

4:18At that time, the feast of the dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around him. And we were saying to him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, these testify of me. But you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, 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.

5:21Incredible passage. A division had occurred, verse 19, because of the words that he had been teaching them about him being the door, the only door, him being the good shepherd. And many of them thought he had a demon or insane. Others were saying, There is no way that a demon thinks, acts, or can do these kinds of things. Certainly God is with them because no one can open the eyes of a blind man. No demon can do that. And so there's. A schism takes place.

6:04And then in verse 22, John picks up the narrative again, and another event takes place. And this time it's at the Feast of Dedication. Notice that. So he picks up the narrative. Jesus has been there since tabernacles, probably has stayed in the Jerusalem area for a couple of months, and now it's the Feast of Dedication. That is what today is called Hanukkah. And at that time, look at verse 22, the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. Now, it's interesting to make sure you understand a little bit about the Feast of Dedication, also known as the Feast of Lights. Very much like the Feast of Tabernacles in its celebration of light. One of the big differences is that you could celebrate the lights in your own home. You didn't have to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem like you did for tabernacles.

7:04But what happened with the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, Feast of Lights, whatever you call it, we'll stick with the terminology here, the Feast of Dedication. But what had happened is in 170 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes, that notorious Greco-Syrian ruler, if you will, conquered Jerusalem, and he totally desecrated the temple. He set up a An altar to a pagan deity, and he offered pig's blood on it. Now that's offensive, right? Right in the temple. And so the temple worship was totally profaned, a very humbling time for the Jewish nation. And then, under the leadership of a priest named Matthias, come to known as the Hasmoneans, and a very prominent figure named Judas Maccabees, Judas the hammer, Antiochus' armies are routed, and the Jews regain control of the temple. And I'm going to pick up a little bit of Josephus, that historian that wrote it in the first century, and read a little bit of what he says about the events.

8:32When, therefore, the general of Antiochus' armies had been beaten often, Judas, this is Judas Maccabees, assembled the people together and told them that after these many victories which God had given him, they ought to go up to Jerusalem and purify the temple and offer the appointed sacrifices. In other words, after all the routing, all these armies, let's go up to Jerusalem, let's purify the temple. The temple has been defiled. Let's go, let's clean it up. And so that's exactly what happens. They take it over, and he, and I'll pick up his reading.

9:10They purified the temple. When therefore they had carefully purged it and had brought in new vessels, the candlestick, the table of showbread, the altar of incense, which were made of gold, he hung up the veils at the gates and added doors to them. He also took down the altar of burnt offering, that's the one that had been profaned with pig's blood, and built a new one of stones that he had gathered together, such that had not hewn with iron stones. And so on the 25th day, the month of Kislev, which approximately approximates our month of December, they lighted lamps that were on the candlestick and offered incense upon the altar and laid the loaves upon the table of showbread and offered burnt offerings upon the new altar. These things were done on the very same day on which their divine worship had been ceased. And then Josephus goes on, after three years, the temple was made desolate by Antiochus. Temple worship began again. And he goes on and says this.

10:27He talks about the celebration, the Festival, the restoration, the sacrifices. This went on for eight days, lots of feasting, lots of splendid sacrifices, lots of expressions of honor to God, delighting in God by hymns and psalms. And then he says this: He says, They were very glad that the revival of their customs had unexpectedly been regained the freedom of their worship. They made it a law for their posterity that they should keep a festival on account of the restoration of their temple worship for eight days. And from that time to this, we celebrate this festival and call it lights. I suppose the reason was, and get this, because this liberty beyond our hopes suddenly appeared to us. So, at a time when the Jews were not expecting temple worship to be restored, all of a sudden, through this wonderful turn of events, the temple gets purified, their customs re-established, and there they are, suddenly free to worship God as it had been prescribed. So, really, what this does is it celebrates the right to worship, a freedom to worship. You know, it's funny, I was. I remember reading a Jewish boy talking about celebrating the holidays as he was growing up. He says, you know, we come to Passover, and that celebrates the deliverance from Egypt, one of our neighbors. And then we come to the Feast of Purim, which is celebrating the liberation from the Persians, some more of our neighbors.

12:26And then we come to Hanukkah, which is the feast that celebrates the liberation from the Greco-Syrian, which are some more of our neighbors. So every celebration we have is one about being freed from one of our neighbors. But what this feast of dedication commemorated was God's intervention. It commemorated a cleansed temple under new leadership, a right to pure worship again re-established. But what was different about the Feast of Dedication and is to this day than the other liberation festivals is that Hanukkah or the Feast of Lights tends to look forward, whereas Passover commemorated something that. Happened at Egypt and Purim.

13:37What this feast of dedication does, it really speaks, it really gives expression to that grand vision of the Jews, and that is an independent state, unmolested, with undefiled temple worship happening. That's what really it looks forward to this grand vision. Of course, at the time that Jesus spoke these words, they are under intense Roman rule. And that desire to be free is going to express itself. There will be a revolt that will be crushed in 70 AD, and the temple will be destroyed. Again, that grand vision of an independent state will again surface under Bar Kokhba, which will be put down in 135. And from that time, there hasn't been a rising up again.

14:46But the vision of a grand, independent Israeli state with pure worship under their Messiah exists today. And really, the Feast of Light. Looks forward to that. So, when John connects this event and what Jesus is going to say here at this festival, it's very significant. And this will be the final rejection in John's Gospel, right? After this, Jesus is going to not focus on his public ministry, but is going to start preparing his disciples for his departure. And that's where John 11 and on takes us.

15:39But it's interesting to note the comparison. You can't help but think about this context. Jesus has already been one that has shown great zeal for the temple. He's already cleansed it in the book of John. He's going to cleanse it again, as the other gospel writers are going to talk about. He is very much interested in pure worship happening at the temple. So there is a similarity between the zeal of Jesus and that of Judas Maccabees. There is also a comparison between the apostasy that took place under Antiochus and the apostasy that Jesus saw under the religious Establishment of his day, which he was confronting, which were totally blind, even when he had performed such an incredible, unmistakable miracle, like he did in chapter 9, and opening eyes that had been blind since birth.

16:49So it's in this context that these events, these bold declarations that Jesus is going to give to us here in a moment. Where does it take place? Well, it takes place, look at verse 23. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. East side. It was winter. John may have included this detail to be a reflection of the cold reception that Jesus had received, or it just may have been cold, and that's why he was walking on the east side in the covering. But the point is, he was walking about and he was really minding his own business. He was walking around his presence. And his presence was felt, right? I mean, he is in the temple. This one who had cleansed it before, this one who is zealous for pure worship, he's there walking around. And look what happens in verse 24. The Jews then gathered around him and were saying to them, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

18:04So the Jews, and the word here is they encircled him. So here he is walking around. They encircled him. They surrounded him. And there's a bit of a hostile feel here. They gathered around him, and they were saying to them, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us boldly. Quit beating around the bush. Tell us boldly. In speech we can understand. Just tell us plainly. There's a hostile confrontation going on here.

18:38They're not coming to him saying, you know what, all the data we just can't quite take in. And if you say so, we'll believe it. I don't think that's what's going on here. Now, there were some that were, obviously, there was a division. If you're the Christ, tell us plainly. Tell us boldly. Quit beating around the bush. Just tell us. Don't be vague. As if to say, we will believe you. No. Look at what Jesus says. Jesus answered them in verse 25, I told you, and you do not believe me. The works that I do in my Father's name, these testify of me.

19:17That's interesting. Jesus says, I already told you. Now, where? He already told them. It's hard to say for sure. Did he ever say directly to the? Him. We know he spoke directly to the woman at the well. We know that he spoke directly about who he was to the blind man in chapter 9. We don't have any record of him speaking so plainly to the Jews, saying, I am the Christ. But he's very clear here that he has spoken to them plainly, boldly. And his reference is clearly to the works that he was doing. Look at verse 25. I told you, you do not believe the works that I do in my Father's name, these testifying of me. They are testifying. The works that I am doing are testifying about me. See, the Father had given Jesus works to do, and Jesus was doing them in his Father's name. And they were clearly only works that would have the stamp of heaven written on them, right? You couldn't do these works in the Father's name if the Father wasn't supporting, right? You can't go open the eyes of the blind unless God's on board with this. You can't do things that only God can do unless God's on board. And that's what Jesus is saying.

20:46God was not working against Jesus, but clearly endorsing him. You see, it was pretty much a universal understanding among the Jews that the Messiah would come and deliver his people. And what the works that Jesus did. Was doing was openly declaring that God had sent Jesus. And so Jesus calls them to reflect upon the works that he was doing. Reflect upon them. Think about them. What about his works? Well, they were good works. They were kind works. They were compassionate works. They were works that served others. They were powerful works.

21:28Only God could do these. You see, demons, liars, crazy people, and self-serving autocrats don't do these kinds of works. These works are testifying who I am, and they are speaking boldly in unmistakable language with exclamation points, neon lights. And you should listen to him. He came with the power to deliver, and he came to deliver in every sense of the word. You see, Scripture puts forth a Messiah that has to be more than just political. He can't just be an individual that comes and establishes a new dynasty or an individual that resurrects the old Davidic dynasty. He has to be one that can conquer sin and death.

22:24The very nature of his kingdom is one that endures forever and is eternal. And so he's going to have to be someone who can conquer not just the religious or political establishment, but even death and sin in his people. This is the Messiah. And this is what the works are declaring about him. And all this boils down. They should listen to him. And this is what he's saying. You should listen to me. Pay attention. You should be listening to me. You should be hearing. I am bringing his salvation. And you need to understand what kind of salvation I am bringing because it's exactly what you need.

23:14But they didn't want it. They didn't want to give up their sovereignty. Well, it's in this context, beginning in verse 26, that Jesus is going to go on to make some of the boldest and clearest declarations about himself, about his relationship with his people, and about his relationship with his father. They are going to get far more than they ask for. They say, okay, talk to us plainly. I'm going to give you plain speech. And when I'm done, they're going to pick up stones. You're going to want to stone me when it's all over. Well, and that's what he does. He makes five bold declarations. That fallen man simply will not accept.

24:05And that's what I want us to look at this morning. I want you to see five truths that Jesus Himself boldly declared so that you will believe them with all of your heart. And I warn you in advance: they are clear, they are bold, and some of you are probably going to have to change your thinking. Some of you are going to have to decide to give up a little bit of your sovereignty and accept his teaching and follow where he leads, or you're going to have to hold on to your own sovereignty.

24:47But these are some of the most liberating and anxiety-settling truths in Scripture. So let the good shepherd speak directly to your soul this morning. Five bold declarations. Let's look at them. First bold declaration. Can you advance it? Pow. Here we go. Five truths, the natural man that will not accept. First of all, the real reason for unbelief. The real reason for unbelief. Look back at verse 26. But you do not believe because you are not my sheep. It said, speak to us plainly. He says, I've been speaking to you plainly. The problem isn't that you have a lack of sufficient information. The problem is in your heart. The problem is in you. You do not believe because you are not my sheep. You do not belong to me. And that is why you do not believe.

26:14Look at it clearly. Look at it. It's there on the page. You do not believe because you are not my sheep. And what Jesus does is he uncovers the real reason for their problem with him. It's unbelief. It's not that they lacked sufficient information. Just tell us and we'll believe. No, they didn't belong to Jesus. They belonged to someone else. And that's why when the shepherd came and started calling out, they didn't recognize his voice because they didn't belong to him. He's still drawing from that sheepherding image that we've been looking at the last couple of weeks. As the shepherd went into a pen of mixed sheep, he would call and And his sheep would come out.

27:02See, the problem is, you're not my sheep. That's why you don't recognize my voice. That's why you won't listen to me. You belong to another. Listen, the only reason anyone will ever truly believe and follow Jesus is because they belong to him. Bold declaration, plain text. Let this inform your understanding. I'll say this: be careful of even splitting this concept of belief and ownership. Because those who believe are owned. And guess what? Those who are owned, guess what they do? They believe. The moment you're owned, the moment you believe, the moment you believe, the moment you're own. Be careful of splitting that truth up. It's like repentance and belief. Don't separate those into two different functions. Because where one is, the other one is.

28:13But the bottom line is: you will not believe him unless you belong to him. Do you understand that? You will not believe him unless you belong to him. So, guess what you need to do? You need to belong to him. We'll see that. That's where John's going. So, the first truth that the natural man will not accept is the real reason for unbelief, and it's an ownership issue. Second truth that natural man will not accept is the relationship that currently exists between Jesus and his people. Look at verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Three present verbs, Jesus describes the relationship that exists between his people and himself. My sheep are hearing my voice. I am knowing them, and they are following me. See that? My sheep are hearing my voice.

29:27I am knowing them, and they are following me. They are recognizing, they're hearing, they're listening, they're learning. That's the idea of they are hearing. They are hearing with an intent to learn. And that's the nature of the relationship. He's the good shepherd. And so his people are hearing him. Definition of me and his people. Fundamental to it. The relationship. Second thing. He is currently knowing them. I love this. Jesus saying, Look, I know my sheep. I am knowing my sheep. I am knowing them thoroughly. I am knowing them exhaustively. And I know exactly how to lead them.

30:17Isn't that wonderful? He knows us every bit. He knows how to lead us. And it's interesting because as you're reading along, you'd almost expect the next words in John's sentence here to be, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they are knowing me. But that's not what he says. He says, My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. The reason they follow him is because he is knowing them, and he knows how to lead them. See that?

30:58They follow him. They listen. They listen with the intent to obey. They do obey. There is growing obedience. There is growth in hearing. There is growth in understanding. And there is growth in obedience. And where that is lacking, there's no evidence that these are really his sheep. There is a current relationship that exists between Christ. Christ and his people. They are listening to him. And they are following because he knows how to lead them. Because he knows us. It's interesting, some today use this verse to minimize the importance of scripture: that no matter what, God's people hear his voice. So, really, scripture plays no, it's not all that necessary. They fancy that their own impressions, their own dreams, visions, understanding is how they follow Christ.

32:11And I would just say, to whatever degree that your dreams, visions, thoughts, musings of your hearts illuminate scripture, to that degree, yeah, maybe. But the truth is in the scripture. You see, when Jesus spoke, this verse is not about the mode of Christ's words, granted. And when Jesus was there that day, he was speaking audibly, and his sheep understood and recognized him and followed him. Where do we find the words? Where do we find the words of Christ today? The Christ of Scripture I'm talking about. In Scripture. The apostles wrote down the words.

33:00We have the connection to the Christ of Scripture through the words of Scripture, so you can be sure that those who have a genuine relationship with the Christ of Scripture will be listening to Scripture, will be growing in their understanding and obedience to Scripture. Listen, the Christ of someone's own imagination is just that, a Christ of someone's imagination. And if you belong to the Christ of Scripture, you will be paying attention and growing in your appreciation of, and your hearing of, and your obedience to the Christ that is revealed in the scriptures.

33:56Five truths that a natural man will not accept. The real reason for unbelief, the relationship that currently exists between Jesus and his people, and number three, the gift that Jesus is giving his people. Look back at verse 28. And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hands. The verb tenses are beautiful here, as they are throughout, as I throughout. The whole scripture, but this really particularly is really illuminating. Verse 28: I am giving to them life eternal.

34:43That's what he's saying. The gift that Jesus gives is something that he is giving right now. And what is it that he is giving? He is giving eternal life right now to his people. And eternal life speaks not only of duration, but also quality. The kind of life that endures forever in relationship with God. That's what he is currently giving to his people this very moment. And without him giving that to us, we do not live. That is what he gives. But look at this. He says, I give eternal life to them.

35:28And there are two consequences of this gift that he is currently giving to us, and they will never perish. In fact, the Greek is so emphatic. In no way will they perish or be destroyed, lost, wilt away, corrupted, ruined. I mean, it's emphatic. In no way, it's because he is giving them eternal life. That's what he's giving him. And so there will be in no way. They will not be destroyed, corrupted. And no one, nothing, future verb will snatch them out of my hands, will take them out of my grasp. They're mine.

36:28Because Jesus is giving life to them, they will not wilt away or be corrupted or lost, nor will anyone drag them. No force, no philosophy, no power, nothing takes them out of the good shepherd's hand. Very plain speech here. Don't hang on to your sovereignty. Let the Christ of Scripture inform you. Often this question comes up in dealing with this verse: well, can I walk away on my own accord? Right? Okay, I see that. Nothing is going to take them out, but can I get up and walk out? Let me ask you this question: Could a sheep get out of his sheep pen?

37:21If you go back to the metaphor, would a good shepherd let a sheep out of his pen and go? To its own destruction? Answer is no. He would not be a good shepherd. And obviously, the good shepherd knows his sheep absolutely thoroughly. He knows all their inclinations. He knows them. And he is a good shepherd. So my answer is no. A sheep just doesn't opt out of who its shepherd is. That doesn't mean you should go out and try.

38:04Right? I do not recommend trying to get away from him because if you really do belong to him, you will understand his discipline. And the shepherd was the autocrat in that world for his sheep, the absolute ruler. But the second reason I would say, no, you cannot walk away on your own accord is because there's a logical breakdown in the very nature of the gift itself. Jesus is currently giving what to his people? Eternal life. And if he ever ceased giving it, guess what? He never gave it. Do you see that? There's a breakdown in the definition of the gift. I am giving them eternal life. And if forever, if for any reason that ceases, he never gave eternal life in the first place.

39:01If they die, they never had eternal life. But Jesus clearly said he is giving it to them. Fourth, truth that the natural man will not accept is the gift that the Father gave to Jesus. Look back at verse 29. 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. Okay, so isn't that interesting? Jesus is giving a gift to his people, and the Father has given past tense with current implications, has given something to Jesus. What is that gift that the Father has given to Jesus?

39:54Jesus' followers. That's who the Father has given. The perfect tense is used here, and it describes the Father's gift to Jesus. Believers in Jesus are the Father's gift to his Son, and guess what? They can never be ungiven. This will settle your soul, especially as you start. Getting into older age and your mental faculties, and you start realizing, okay, I'm slipping in some things. Am I going to hold on to? No, he's you're never going to be ungiven if you are his.

40:43They will always, we will always be the ones given to Jesus. The gift of the Father to the Son. We are just caught up in this wonderful love relationship between the Father and the Son. Let that serve as the anchor of your soul. If you are bearing the fruits of genuine salvation, never doubt that you are a gift from the Father to the Son. Let that be the foundation of your soul. And what does Jesus say? And guess what? By the way, the Father is greater than everyone. No one can change the situation. He has given them. And because He has given them to me, I currently give them eternal life, continue giving them eternal life by its very definition. And no one's going to take them out of my hand, and no one's going to change the Father's gift to me. They are mine forever.

41:55That's what He's saying to these antagonists. Jesus, and then understand God has given a people to Jesus out of the earth, and they belong to him. And they will recognize him, they will hear him, they will learn from him, they will love him, and they will worship him, period. And that's because the father loves the son. Fifth truth that the natural man will not accept, and that is the perfect unity between the Father and Jesus. Look at verse 30. I and the Father are one.

42:43Literally, we are one. We are being one. So, and you can see that it's a natural consequence of where he's been going. He said, no one can snatch his people out of his hand. No one, not even the Father. He also said that no one can snatch his, anyone, no one can snatch his people from his father's hand, not even himself. Okay, got a problem here, right? Either something's wrong with the statement, or in order for both of these statements to be true, Jesus and his Father are one.

43:21One, not only in purpose, but one in power. They are united on a much more significant level. And what Jesus is saying, they are one in ultimate authority. You see, and I would love to spend a lot of time here because this has been used throughout church history as a verse to challenge and to understand how is this union between the two. And some have discounted it to the point of saying, well, it's just one in purpose or they're on the same team. No, Jesus's language here is too, it's much deeper than that. They're one in power and one in purpose. And I don't have time to go into all of that. But I'll say this. The Jews asked Jesus to speak plainly about who he is.

44:32And his answer was far more than they expected. They said, Tell us if you are the Christ. And his answer is, I am ultimate authority in human form. And that is what the Messiah possesses. And I have been demonstrating that to you, but you're not hearing me because you do not belong. To me, they didn't like his answer. Look what happens in verse 31. The Jews picked up stones again, again, to stone him. We'll pick up there next week. But Jesus boldly declared these five realities so that you and I would believe in him.

45:27We need to understand the real reason for unbelief. We need to understand the relationship that currently exists between Jesus and us, his people. We need to understand that the gift that Jesus is currently giving to us right now, that of eternal life. We need to understand that it comes out of a gift that the Father has given to Jesus. It's permanent. It's never going to change. And we need to understand that Jesus is the incarnation of absolute authority. There is perfect unity between his Father and Himself. So then the question is, why did the people have a problem with this?

46:08And the bottom line, they did not want to give up their sovereignty. They wanted a Messiah who would take down the Romans and leave their sovereignty intact. And Jesus, listen, you cannot walk with Emmanuel and stay sovereign. Walking with sovereign sovereigns. With Emmanuel will be humbling, but it will be good. But what about us? Why do many of us have a problem with some of these clear teachings? Even here today, as I'm preaching through these, I can imagine that some of you are thinking, well, what about this verse? What about this thing? And there's a, what about this? What about that? What about, no, that just didn't, no, that doesn't fit with what I believe. No, that just you can't get more clear, more bold speech.

47:06And the problem that you may be having is that you do not want to give up your sovereignty. And if you're going to walk with a good shepherd, you must recognize he is sovereign, he is the ruler. And it is good that way. Let's work backwards from this and see where John's going with all this before we dismiss. Let's start. I'm going to start at number five and work backwards. I want you to think about this. If Jesus is the embodiment of ultimate authority, which he is, and if the Father has given him a people from the earth, and he has, and if Jesus is currently giving eternal Life to his people, which he is doing. And if his people here believe, learn, and grow in their obedience to them, which they are doing. And if the real reason people do not believe in him is because they do not belong to him, which is certainly the case, then what's the right response to all of this? Where is John taking us?

48:30And the answer: give up your sovereignty. Trust the good shepherd to control your life. Believe his words. Confess your unworthiness to be his people. You don't have that right. You don't measure up. Confess it. And humbly ask to be one of his sheep. That's where all this takes us. Ask to be one of his. You don't have that right to be one of his. But if you will humble yourself and ask him, guess what he is pleased to make you?

49:17One of his. So pray. Confess those areas where you are holding on to sovereignty. Even if you're walking with him, give up your sovereignty. Continue to give. It up. Believe his words. Confess your unworthiness. Listen, you won't even get through that prayer, and you will be born again. Listen where John's gospel goes. Verse 30 of chapter 20. You don't need to turn there. Therefore, many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. That's where John's taking us to the end of yourself, to the end of your sovereignty, to complete trust in the Good Shepherd. And by doing so, you will have that eternal life given, not as some charm that you can lose, but a current disposition that is eternal. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the Good Shepherd speaking truth to us, speaking so boldly and plainly. Thank you for this episode that took place at the Feast of Dedication. Thank you for John writing this down. Thank you for the confrontation that took place at that portacle of Solomon. We just thank you for all of that and the instruction that it has given us today and the confidence. And the soul settling rest that all of your people can have in you as our good shepherd. Thank you.