Message:
‘Walkie/Talkie Christianity’
Text:
John 10:22-42
Introduction:
He made free use of Christian vocabulary. He talked
about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian
confessions which would become the pillars of the
new government. He assumed the earnestness of a man
weighed down by historic responsibility. He handed
out pious stories to the press, especially to the
church papers. He showed his tattered Bible and
declared that he drew the strength for his great
work from it as scores of pious people welcomed him
as a man sent from God. Indeed, Adolf Hitler was a
master of outward religiosity—with no inward
reality! Today in the Word, June 3, 1989
A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to
impress upon a class of boys the importance of
living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a
Christian?” the man asked. After a moment’s pause,
one youngster said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t
know you.” Source unknown
Explanation:
Credibility gap is the distance between our words
and out actions between our profession and our
practice. It’s the politically correct version of
the word hypocrisy.
As I read through the text this past week, I saw the
Apostle John emphasizing the consistency between the
words and actions of Jesus as compared to the
inconsistency of the words and actions of the
religious leaders in Jerusalem.
If we were honest, we would agree that at times we
too struggle with a ‘credibility gap’ as did the
Pharisees. (Sometimes our walkie doesn’t match our
talkie)
Transition:
Turn in your Bibles to John 10:22 (pg 819 in the
Bibles under the chairs in front of you). It’s here
that we will discover what Jesus has to say about
walkie-talkie Christianity.
John 10:22-30 The
Plain Truth pt.1
Read: John
10:22-30
About three months have passed between vs21 and 22.
It’s now December and Jesus is in Jerusalem to
celebrate the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah as it
is called today. Hanukkah is the celebration of the
rededication of the Temple after it had been
desecrated by Antichus Epiphanes in 164bc.
Jesus is walking through the Temple and he is
surrounded by a hostile crowd of religious leaders.
They are aggravated and frustrated with him because
they feel he has not given them the plain truth
about whether or not he is the Messiah.
• They were not asking because they wanted to
believe, they were asking so they can accuse him of
blasphemy and have him killed.
Jesus replied that he did tell them, but they chose
not to believe. He said the miracles he did, his
works, authenticated his words.
But because they were not his sheep, they didn’t
believe what they heard or saw.
Jesus then says some wonderful things about those
who are his sheep. The idea here is just as his
words match his works now…they will always do so.
Listen to what Jesus says about those who are his
sheep and what he will do for them.
• His sheep listen to his voice
• He knows his sheep, intimately
• His sheep follow him
• He gives his sheep eternal life. This means
-Those who are his sheep will never perish
(not speaking of physical but spiritual death,
complete separation from the presence of God’s love)
• His Father is greater than everything and
everyone. That means
-Those who are his sheep were placed into
Jesus’ flock by the all powerful hand of God.
-And they can never be taken away from the
flock.
• Finally Jesus says, I and the Father are one.
-Again Jesus plainly professes that he is
God.
There’s a lot to unpack here. And It’s all good news
for the Christian.
What Jesus is saying is that a sheep’s future is
forever secure when Jesus is their shepherd.
Theologians call this the doctrine of Eternal
Security.
Forget about theology for a moment and lets plainly
look at Jesus words.
‘I give them eternal life, and they shall never
perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My
Father, who has given them to me is greater than
all, no one can snatch them out of my Father’s
hand.’
Jesus gives eternal life. It begins now and
continues forever. That’s what eternal
means…forever. Eternal life is given to us by God,
it’s not something we earn by our works of any kind.
• Contrary to the teachings of the Pharisees who
say to earn eternal life you must faithfully keep
the Law.
When Jesus says ‘no one can snatch them out of my
hand’ and later when he says ‘no one can snatch them
out of my Fathers hand’, the idea here is permanent
and irreversible. Eternal life is a done deal and
can not be taken back or taken away.
• Again contrary to the teaching of the Pharisees
who said that they can block or remove someone from
eternal life by excluding them from the synagogue.
You may be thinking, OK I understand no one can
force me to walk away from my faith in God, but what
if I choose to walk away myself. What if I jump out
of God’s hand on my own?
Actually that’s a good question and there are two
parts to the answer as best as I see it.
1. Jesus’ use of the words ‘no one’ here is
important. ‘No One’ literally means ‘not anyone’.
Since you are part of what can be considered
‘anyone’ when Jesus
says ‘no one’ it means you too.
2. Jesus’ uses of the phrase ‘My Father…has
given them to me…’ indicates that it was the power
of God that brought you to Jesus in the first place,
it is the
indwelling Holy Spirit given to you by God
who sustains your relationship, who keeps you in the
flock.
Question: Do
you believe that you can sin so badly that God will
not only fail to forgive you but throw you out of
his family?
• Romans 5:8
Question: Do
you believe that that what God has decided will be,
can be overthrown by your choice?
Truth is you did nothing to become one of Jesus’
sheep, you did nothing to be added to his flock, you
can do nothing to either stay or be removed from it.
It’s all the work of the sovereign God.
• Eph. 2:8-9 ‘For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one
can boast.’
God is sovereign. Sovereignty means God is greater
then you…always, in every way and forever. Jesus is
telling us that it is God’s sovereignty that is the
assurance of our salvation and eternal life.
However, the sovereignty of God is a sensitive
subject for many Christians. Many Christians
struggle with the whole idea of The sovereignty of
God and the Free Will of Man. I believe they
struggle because somewhere deep down they don’t want
to ever admit that they are not in some kind of
control of their lives. But understand that’s a part
of our human makeup. And it boils down to nothing
more than pride. No mater how theologically you try
to talk about balancing the sovereignty of God and
the free will of man, there is no balance. The
freedom we have is given to us by God and it can
never overrule his will and word.
So what about people who say they are Christians and
act like Christians but eventually seem to give up
on Christianity and desert God? This is not an easy
question to answer in any manner of completeness.
Here are a few pieces of the answer, as I see it
from God’s word.
• Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and follow
me. Are sheep sometimes rebellious and do their own
thing? Yes. But a good shepherd will always bring
the sheep
back to the flock. Remember Jesus’ parable of
the lost sheep?
• If then Jesus is the true Good Shepherd, he
will take those who wander, rebel and/or refuse to
obey, and bring them back to the fold.
• The other option is that the sheep are not
truly Jesus’ sheep. To use another metaphor, they
are the weeds or tares that are growing together
among the wheat. Remember that parable of Jesus?
Let me finish this thought with a word of warning.
We’re not sheep inspectors. It is not our job to
determine who is a true sheep of Jesus and who
isn’t. Scripture says that we are to judge ourselves
to see if we are in the faith. That means be
concerned about your walk with God and let God deal
with everyone else.
Transition:
Jesus gives the religious leaders the plain truth…he
is God. But because they don’t believe they respond
with anger and hostility.
John 10:31-39 The
Plain Truth pt.2
Read: John
10:31-39
The religious leaders understood that Jesus was
claiming to be God, and they wanted to stone him.
But understand why.
• The Jews taught that salvation was the work of
human effort…specifically keeping the Law. Salvation
then was the reward for their hard work.
• If salvation was a free gift of God’s grace,
based on God’s good pleasure and not our hard work,
where is the reward? That was a blow to their
pride…it still is
today, even for many Christians.
So the religious leaders want to stone Jesus. But
Jesus, always in control of the situation, asks them
a question. Does he deserve to die because of his
good works? If so, which one?
The religious leaders reply…it’s not your works but
your words we don’t like. We don’t mind you doing
good things, just don’t say you are the Messiah.
What they are telling Jesus to do is be a hypocrite
…say one thing and do another. That was easy for the
religious leaders because there was an obvious
credibility gap between what they said and what they
did.
Jesus responds by quoting part of Ps. 82:6. ‘I have
said you are gods’. Jesus was not saying people e
were gods but that as representatives of God they
function as gods…leaders of the people.
So plainly speaking, Jesus is employing the ‘much
more’ argument. If mere men who are in positions of
leadership can in some sense be called gods, how
much more then can I call myself God when I am
without sin and I have been sent by God himself?
Jesus ends his argument by restating that he is God
when he said he is in the Father and the Father is
in him. Well, they want to stone him again but Jesus
escapes. How when he was surrounded? He’s sovereign
and nothing can thwart his will.
Transition:
Who where does Jesus escape to?
John 10:40-42
Many People Believe
Read: John
10:40-42
• In spite of the disbelief of the Pharisee and
religious leaders,
• In spite of the fact that the religious leaders
prohibited anyone from believing Jesus was the
Messiah,
• Many people came to faith in Jesus Christ…God
added many more sheep to Jesus’ flock.
• And he is still adding people to his flock
today…praise God!
Conclusion
A few closing comments.
1. Jesus’ teachings here are a strong proof for
the sovereignty of God especially as it relates to
the salvation and eternal life of the Christian.
2. There’s a very essential connection between
what we say and what we do…it is called personal
integrity…it is called godliness. Our text
challenges us to
constantly be assessing if there is a
credibility gap in our life between our words and
our works.
3. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who always leads
all his sheep home…forever.
ILL: Close
your eyes.
It is the hour of your dying. You are in the
hospital. It is the middle of the night. Your
best-beloved has fallen asleep from exhaustion on
the chair beside your bed. Long ago you had heard
the voice of the Lord and you obeyed and followed
him in faith.
But now a storm begins to rage as Satan throws all
his final force against your faith. You feel the
reality of eternity like you have never felt it
before. The wind of doubt and the waves of fear lash
your soul. And then, by the grace of God, there
comes a scene and it is your scene. You are in a
boat in a storm. And Jesus is approaching you on the
water. And on his face there is no fear.
With his hair and his cloak flying in the wind he
stops a short way off and stands with his strong
hands relaxed at his side in sovereign peace. And
from the boat, with one last heart-rending glance at
your loved one asleep in the chair, you say,
"Christ, bid me come!" And he says, "Come." And you
begin to walk on the water.
But then in the final instant you are utterly
overwhelmed with what is happening. "I am dying! I
am dying! This water is so deep, it is dark, it is
cold and filled with hideous creatures!"
For fear you begin to sink. But the promise of Jesus
never fails. And with a mighty hand he seizes your
arm and pulls you to himself.
The storm ceases and there is a great, beautiful
calm upon the sea, and it is over. And you know,
like you never imagined you could know, that Jesus
is precious because he has given you eternal life.
John Piper
