John 10:19 “There was a division therefore again among the Jews for
these sayings.
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?
21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a
devil open the eyes of the blind?
22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was
winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost
thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that
I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto
you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”
1. You Are Facing Division
2. Your Incrimination
3. Your Defense
4. Your Promise
1. You Are Facing Division
Verse nineteen: “There was a division therefore again among the Jews for
these sayings.”
It is staring you right in the face. It is a fact of life. It is par for
the course as they would say. If you as a sinner step up to the plate by
putting your faith and trust into Jesus Christ [which involves
“repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”
[Acts
20:21b],] you will face DIVISION.
The dividing line between those who
believe in Jesus Christ and those who do not believe in Jesus Christ
forms the most powerful and controversial demarcation point in the whole
world. It figuratively turns the world up side down and literally angers
the DEVIL when someone gets saved. The ISSUE of Jesus Christ causes more
turmoil and trouble among people than other issue in life. You might
say, then, that whenever men and women turn to Jesus Christ for
salvation, it causes a general UPROAR amongst friends and relatives, and
extends outward into the populace of a nation. Why does this happen, you
say? It happens because the SCRIPTURE says it will happen. It happened
in Acts 17:5-6 when Paul and Silas preached in Thessalonica, in a
synagogue of the Jews. Let’s read there.
“But the Jews which believed
not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser
sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and
assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the
people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain
brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the
world upside down are come hither also.”
It happened in Ephesus in Acts
19:23-40 when Demetrius, a silversmith stirred up a crowd together to
get the Christians. [Acts 19:23]
“And the same time there arose no small
stir about that way.”
It happened to Paul again in Jerusalem in Acts
21:30-38. The ultimate reason why you will face divisions as believer in
Jesus Christ is because Jesus Christ came to this earth expressly to
cause division. [Luke 12:51-53]
“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace
on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth
there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two
against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son
against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter
against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and
the daughter in law against her mother in law.”
2. Your Incrimination
Verse twenty: “And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why
hear ye him?”
Not only will you face divisions because you have placed
your faith and trust into Jesus Christ but you will be accused of being
a trouble maker, and in a sense, a devil. It even gets better than that!
Ready? The world will think you are nuts, and will write you off for
having gone over the edge, so to speak. Case in point, Festus in [Acts
26:24], yelled out “with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself;
much learning doth make thee mad.”
Something else, they [the unsaved]
will never understand you, nor will they ever allow you access to the
inside of their little clicks. You will be an outsider, and will never be
accepted as an insider. Do you understand that? You are incriminated!
Further, they think a Believer in Jesus Christ is MAD. Now why does the
world think you guilty of this? Perhaps, the reason why they find you
guilty [in the world’s eyes] of being mad is because your Savior and
LORD was found guilty [in the Jew’s eyes] of being mad. “He hath a
devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?”
A Christian is incriminated because
of his relationship with the SON of GOD! Turn to [Matthew 10:24-25], and
see for yourself.
“The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant
above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master,
and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house
Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?”
There you have it! If the religious folk of this world called Jesus
Christ THE DEVIL who is the master of THE HOUSE, then it follows that
they will call us who are of the HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH …
DEVILS. It is just
par for the course. You will be labeled a troublemaker, as being mad, and
as being a devil!
3. Your Defense
Verse twenty-six and seven: “But ye believe not, because ye are not of
my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me.”
The sheep have an ear for the LORD. They can HEAR!
Those that can not hear HIS voice are deaf. The particular range of
frequencies in the sound of the Jesus Christ’s voice is beyond the
ability of the unsaved man [the natural man] to hear [understand]. A
believer [the sheep] has had a supernatural operation performed on him
at the moment he got saved [or born again]. This surgical operation
involved a circumcision made without hands which cut loose and set free
his soul from the body of his flesh. Turn to [Colossians 2:11-13], and
see the how the Spirit of GOD wrote it in the BOOK. Ready?
“In whom also
ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all
trespasses.”
If you are indeed a sheep, you can, therefore, hear HIS voice. You hear
HIS voice because of this circumcision [the new birth] has been
performed on you. You are a Christian, and a true Christian HEARS
Christ’s voice. Others hear yet they will not hear [understand].
4. Your Promise
Verse twenty-eight and nine: “And I give unto them eternal life; and
they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”
In one fell swoop, the SON of GOD shows it to all who will believe
HIS
words that once a person is saved he, or she, is saved [SAFE] forever.
This means, no man, or devil, can take you OUT of the Father’s hands.
The Father’s hands are SURE. Nothing, or no one, can
PLUCK you out …
including yourself.
We are the adopted sons of GOD. Once you are an
adopted son, you will always be a son. ONCE SAVED – ALWAYS SAVED is a
true doctrine according to this King James Bible. This father – son
relationship can not be lost. Now, what can be lost is the FELLOWSHIP
between the father and a son, but never the RELATIONSHIP between a
father and a son. Do you understand this difference between these words?
Fellowship can be interrupted and lost because of sin, but the
relationship still exists. My son may not be fellowshipping with me [his
father] because of his waywardness but he still is my son.
Proof from the Scripture:
[2 Corinthians 1:22] “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of
the Spirit in our hearts.”
[Ephesians 1:13-14] “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
[Ephesians 4:30] “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
sealed unto the day of redemption.”
The bottom line to all of this is that it is impossible for a true
believer in Jesus Christ to loose his salvation because he has been
SEALED.
“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.”
John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some
other way, the same is a thief and a
robber.
John 10:2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the
sheep.
John 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice:
and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
John 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before
them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
John 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from
him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
John 10:6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood
not what things they were which he spake unto them.
John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
John 10:8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but
the sheep did not hear them.
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and
to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep.
John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose
own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep,
and fleeth: and
the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
John 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and
careth not for the sheep.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known
of mine.
John 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and
I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:16 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 fold, and one shepherd.
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again.
John 10:18 No man taketh 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
commandment have
I received of my Father.
John 10:19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for
these sayings.
John 10:20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why
hear ye him?
John 10:21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a
devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
John 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and
it was winter.
John 10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.
John 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him,
How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly.
John 10:25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the
works
that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
John 10:26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I
said unto you.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and
no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
John 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
John 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you
from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
John 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone
thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man,
makest thyself God.
John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I
said, Ye are gods?
John 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came,
and the scripture cannot be broken;
John 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent
into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of
God?
John 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
John 10:38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works:
that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in
him.
John 10:39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped
out of their hand,
John 10:40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where
John at first baptized; and there he abode.
John 10:41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no
miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.