======================================================================== I HAVE OTHER SHEEP THAT ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD by John Piper ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of embracing a global perspective in worship and mission, highlighting the need to break free from ethnic arrogance and pursue Gospel-based diversity and racial harmony. It delves into the assurance of salvation and the unstoppable purpose of God to gather people from all nations, urging believers to be bold in their faith and involvement in spreading the Gospel. Topics: "Global Perspective in Worship", "Racial Harmony in the Gospel" Scripture References: John 10:16, John 10:27, Revelation 5:9, Romans 8:30, John 11:51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of embracing a global perspective in worship and mission, highlighting the need to break free from ethnic arrogance and pursue Gospel-based diversity and racial harmony. It delves into the assurance of salvation and the unstoppable purpose of God to gather people from all nations, urging believers to be bold in their faith and involvement in spreading the Gospel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let's pray. Father, I pray for the experience of a precious emptiness in all worship that is not worship. Christians who are worshipping without worshipping, Muslims who are worshipping without worshipping, Hindus who are worshipping without worshipping, Buddhists who are worshipping without worshipping, Jews who are worshipping without worshipping, Jesus, come and make all feel this precious emptiness. And then may your voice be heard irresistibly, unmistakably, self- authenticatingly, mightily, sovereignly, and create worshippers of Christ. Pray this in His name, Amen. Peter Cameron Scott was born in 1867 and he founded the Africa Inland Mission. As a young man, he went to Africa, and like so many in that generation, he contracted malaria and had to go back to Britain. The Lord strengthened his hand, renewed his call, and filled him with joy because this time he went back to Africa taking his brother, John, with him. And they were going to be valiant together for their lives. And the fever took John. And Peter stood digging his own brother's grave and was utterly discouraged. And then, though he renewed his own commitment to stay, he took fever again and had to go home, devastated, wondering why. And God did an absolutely remarkable thing in Westminster Abbey. He stood there at the grave of David Livingstone. And on the grave of David Livingstone, the explorer missionary from another generation, are written these words. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. That's our text for tonight. Verse 16 of John 10. And Peter Cameron Scott was fired again by the Holy Spirit through John 10, 16, and he returned, and he never went home. And today, Africa Inland Mission is the evidence of the fruitfulness. And why God tests His servants like that, I do not know, but He does. And those who endure, those who get it again, those who read the Bible and the Holy Spirit comes and they're alive again and they say, I'm going! Amazing things are wrought through that kind of perseverance. I have a double point from, we're only going to look at one verse, verse 16, I have a double point that I want to make, a double confidence I want to build into you. May God grant that I would be used to speak the words of Jesus from John 16 and a double confidence. And I'll tell you what they are, and then that will be the two parts of the sermon. The first is that God would use John 10, 16 to give you, when I say you, I mean those of you who have received Jesus as your Savior and your Lord and your treasure. And He's yours and you're banking on Him for the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life, come what may. That's the you I'm talking about. I am praying that this verse would be used by the Holy Spirit to give you a tremendous unshakable confidence, you're going to make it to heaven. That's number one. And secondly, I am praying that God will use this verse, 16 of John 10, to fill you with a tremendous confidence that God's worldwide saving purpose and your place in it cannot fail. It will succeed. Those are my goals. Those two kinds of confidence, I just want them to grow from small to big in your heart as we listen to Jesus. I won't make this happen. John 10, 16 may make this happen by the power of the Holy Spirit, the way it did for Peter, Cameron, Scott. So I am praying that you will have ears to hear. Let's take them one at a time. Number one, this verse is the foundation of our confidence that we will make it to heaven. Let's read it. I have other sheep, Jesus says, that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd. There are four statements, sovereign, absolutely authoritative, divine Jesus statements in that verse, and they are massively crucial for your confidence that you're gonna make it to heaven. Number one, I have other sheep. And we're gonna go through this verse twice for the first confidence and then the second confidence, and we're gonna focus on different words each time. So if you miss one the first pass, why don't you focus on that and coming back? So focus here on the word have. I have other sheep. And he has them before he brings them. Otherwise, he wouldn't say, I must bring them. Look at verses three and four again from last week. To him that is the shepherd of the sheep, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out when he has brought out all his own from among the rest, he goes before them and they follow him, the sheep follow him for they know his voice. So notice the words his own twice. Verse three, he calls his own sheep. He has them. There he is. As he goes into the sheepfold of Israel by the incarnation and the arrival in Jerusalem, he's calling out his own. He's the Messiah. He has come. He's come to the fold of Israel and his voice is sounding, I am he, and they're not all coming. His sheep are coming. His own, know his voice. That's happening in this room now. You either hear his voice or you don't. He has them, verse 16 says. Before he calls them, they are his. I have other sheep. I must go get them. I must bring them. I have them. Other sheep, not just the ones in the Jewish fold. Now, before we look at the next statement, how can Jesus have his own sheep before he calls them to himself? Before they hear his voice and respond and come to him? How can he have sheep that are his before they respond in faith and come to him? And the answer is that the Father has them and gives them to Jesus. Give you a couple of verses here. Chapter 17, verse six, if you wanna look at it with me. Jesus is praying to his Father and here's what he says in verse six of John 17. I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were before they ever came to me and you gave them to me. Yours they were, you then gave them to me. That's how I have them. I have other sheep. They belong to the Father and I must go bring them. Here's another verse. Chapter six, verse 37. Chapter six, verse 37. All that the Father gives me will come to me. So the Father has them, Jesus calls them and the Father gives them to him and they come to him. That's how you got saved. The Father had chosen them for himself and he gives them. This is Jesus' way, one of his ways, of talking about the New Testament teaching truth of election. That's Paul's language and Jesus' elsewhere. When I say election, I mean this. Ephesians 1, 4, God chose, he elected. He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Yours they were and you gave them to me. I have other sheep all over the world in this room. I must bring them. Statement number two, I must bring them also. Now here we're focusing on the word must. A literal translation would be it is necessary that I bring them. This is one of those divine necessities laid upon Jesus. I must bring them and your salvation, Christian, happened because of that word must. That's why you're a Christian. Jesus had to get you and he got you. The Father has chosen them. I will lay down my life for them and therefore I must bring them. There's no question, they will be brought. This is the sovereign Jesus talking. I must bring them. They are mine. The Father gave them to me. He's had them from eternity. I will bring them. They're mine. How does he bring them? How might he bring you tonight if you're not already coming? How might he do that? And the answer is crystal clear. He will do it by his word. Look at verse three. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice. There it is. The sheep hear his voice. So here's this big sheepfold of Israel. He says, I'm here. I'm Messiah. I'm water. I'm bread. I'm life. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. And the sheep come. They know his voice. Why wouldn't they come? Of course they come. They know his voice. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. Now here's the question for you. How does he do that today? Today? I mean, Jesus physically is in heaven with his resurrection body. He will come again physically and we'll see him, touch him. Right now, we would like that. I would. And he won't let me have it. He will give me this and says, wait, this is my voice. Speak it and I'll show you from John that's the way he's talking to me. It's chapter 20, verse 21 and chapter 17, verse 20. We need to, as a church, get this because if you wonder, what's he preaching for? Why do we have this thing called preaching? Chapter 20, verse 21. As the Father has sent me, and I would add to call my own, as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And he's been doing that ever since. And the reason I know it's an ongoing thing is because of chapter 17, verse 20. Here he's praying again. Remember, this is the great prayer of Jesus to his Father. Verse 20, I do not pray, Father, I do not pray for these only. In other words, those sheep who had responded. I do not pray for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. That is John Piper. And possibly you. Any day of the week. That's how it happens. People are brought, I must bring them, people are brought by his voice. Where, where, where, where, where? Right here, if I'm faithful to this. And right there, if you're faithful to this. You open your mouth with these words, God is heard. And the sheep hear it. It's an awesome thing to be a preacher or a witness. Statement number three, they will listen to my voice. You with me? I'm still in verse 16, third phrase. They will listen to my voice. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them. The effect of my bringing them is that they will listen to my voice. That's how I do it. And the word I want you to focus on here is will. They will. I got so bent out of shape this week. This is not in my manuscript. I probably shouldn't say it. My wife is probably shaking her head. She's probably reading some horrible theology on a blog. Actually, it wasn't a blog. Doesn't matter, I shouldn't be saying this. About how uncertain the mission of Jesus is and how he looked down from the cross at his ragtag disciples and wondered how it would turn out. Frankly, I regard that as blasphemy. I mean, maybe that's an overstatement. I shouldn't have said it. But I get so angry at that kind of talk. My king, Jesus, who said I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and who says they will hear my voice and I will bring them and there will be one shepherd and one flock is wondering as he hangs on the cross whether his mission is going to succeed. Okay, I'm done. Close that parenthesis. You need to know why I'm focusing your attention on the will. They will listen to my voice. I believe the Bible, especially these precious promises that my life depended on and still does. Remember, we're on confidence number one that you're gonna get to heaven. Verse four, when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. Or look down at verse 27. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. This is not up for grabs. He's not saying maybe they do and maybe they don't. This is how you know you are a sheep. If you don't follow ever, you never were. And if you do follow, you always were. Did you get that? That's my summary of this. If you never follow, if you go out of here and say, don't want anything to do with it, I don't want this Christianity stuff, I don't want Jesus as Lord, Savior, treasure my life, I don't want that, and you stay in that posture till you're grave, you never were a sheep. And there will be a division the last day. But if you come, you always were a sheep. I have other sheep. My father had them, he gave them to me. How can you know if you're a sheep? Don't open the book of life. It's none of your business what's in there. He won't show you whose names are in the book of life. That's his business. There is one way you know if your name is there and if you're a sheep. Do you hear his voice and come freely to him? That's how you know who you are. You know who you are, a voice hearer, a Jesus follower, a Jesus lover, a Jesus worshiper. Oh, talk to me, Jesus, that is my life. That's Christians. And if you don't, you may yet, you may yet. If when Jesus speaks, you hear the voice of God and come, you are His. And what if you don't come? Don't believe, what would that mean? Verse 26, this is one of the most awesome, startling, mind boggling verses in the Bible. Verse 26, this will be spoken over you in the last day. Verse 27, you do not believe because you're not part of my flock. Believing doesn't make you part of his flock. Being part of his flock enables you to believe. That's what that says. Free sobering up. What if someone should say, well, if I'm part of his flock before I believe, then I don't need to believe. If that is the logic of your mind, you are denying the words of the Lord Jesus. Because Jesus says in verse 27, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me, period. If you don't, you won't. Human brains get us into trouble a lot. We're gonna outthink Jesus. We're gonna reason our way into a problem here. We're gonna draw inferences here that are totally unwarranted and not in the Bible and our little brains are gonna make these problems instead of just bowing to Jesus. Statement number four. So there will be, and that's what I'm underlining again, there will be one flock and one shepherd. We will come back to the oneness of this, but right now I'm just hammering on the wills and the shells and the musts of this text. There will be one flock, there will be one flock and one shepherd. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice. There will be one flock and one shepherd. How long will there be a flock? How absolute is this promise? There will be, like what just goes out of existence after a hundred years or a thousand or a week? Or did you mean ever there will be one flock and one shepherd? Did you mean we're gonna make it? We're gonna make it and then forever we've made it. And we're there, life abundant forever. Is that what you meant when you said that, Jesus? Let's go down and get the answer from verses 27 to 30. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them, say the word, eternal life, that's important, and they will, say the word, never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. He said it once, he will say it again. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one. This flock is forever. You will make it to heaven. Let me sum up what we've seen. And for those who are steeped in the Bible, I'm gonna say it in a way that will make your ears ring with Romans 8 with no artificial effort at all, okay? So have in your mind, all you biblical folks, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's okay, you'll hear it. You get it without hearing it. There's that golden chain in Romans 8, 30, 31. Those whom he foreknew, he predestined. Those whom he predestined, he called. Those whom he called, he justified. Those whom he justified, he glorified. Nobody's lost total security for all those who are his. Now listen. Those whom the Father chose for himself, he also gave to the Son. And for those who belong to the Son, he also laid down his life. And those for whom he laid down his life, he also called or brought to himself. And those whom he called or brought or heard his voice, they heard his voice and followed him. And to those who followed him, he gave eternal life. And those to whom he gave eternal life, they cannot be taken out of his hand. And therefore, there will be forever one flock and one shepherd. Believer, I want you to be unshakable. I'll tell you, in 31 years of pastoral ministry and 40 plus years of ministry, I cannot tell you the number of people who have said to me how wobbly they were in their assurance until they heard these things. They're all over the Bible. You can hear them here. You can hear them there. Romans, you can hear them in Galatians. You can hear them in Revelation, wherever you want. You can hear this kind of sovereign talk. And when it comes home and you hear it as the word of God and the Holy Spirit assures you I'm one of those sheep, you are absolutely invincible. Cancer can't take you out. Loss of job can't take you out. Divorce can't take you out. You can't be taken out. No, I want a church full of people who in all lowliness and humility are unshakable. I didn't say myself. My God chose me. My God called me. My God died for me. My God rose for me. My God brought me to himself. My God put me in his hand. My God closed the hand. My God won't let anybody take me out. I'm home forever in one flock. Oh, that you might go to bed tonight unshakable. That's confidence number one. Now, number two. I am praying that John 10, 16 will fill you with a confidence that the saving global worldwide all peoples including purpose of God and your place in it cannot fail. We'll totally succeed. That's the last thing I want to try to make plain. You might say, and you'd be right, we've already seen that. I mean, if he sovereignly saves as effectively as you say he saves his sheep, he can't fail. Total, right? So I could close the book. We could all go to Kenny's house. You know, we're talking about the South Campus, do you? North Campus, doesn't matter. But we're not gonna stop because there is so much in this verse I have not said yet that is so massively important for your life and for the mission. I want you to feel now the thrust of the words, not of this fold. Are you with me? I have other sheep that are not of this fold. And then the other thing I want you to focus on is one flock and one shepherd. Those are the two things we're working with for the last few minutes of this sermon. I have sheep, they're not of the fold that's already in existence. In that case, a Jewish fold. I could say here, okay, here we are fold or gather, here's Bethlehem. He has other sheep besides us. And he must bring them. Not necessarily to Bethlehem, but to himself. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. That is, they're not of ethnic Jewish Israel. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice. There will be one flock that is from all the ethnic groups. You may think, well, that's an over-interpretation. Yeah, yeah, it would be if I didn't have a lot of other John statements in mind, which I'll show you. From all the other ethnic groups around the world with the Jewish sheep in one fold, in one shepherd. So what we've spent the whole sermon doing so far is emphasizing the magnificent, sovereign salvation that God has worked to save his sheep. He chose us from before creation. He sent his Son into the world to lay down his life for them. He brought them to himself by his voice. Now here's the reason for emphasizing this second confidence. You would think, I hope you would think, that such a salvation, such a lopsided, God-dependent salvation, that depends on nothing in me for being chosen, nothing in me for being called, would make me humble. Wouldn't you? You would think that the humblest people on the planet would be Christians. And it isn't necessarily so, is it? Because we're sinners, here's what's happened. It has proved often in history that the church has become ingrown, indifferent to the world, and that our chosenness, our chosen standing has been wickedly woven into the fabric of ethnocentrism and racism and nationalism. All you have to do is think about Nazi Germany and all the complicit christened in the hatred of the Jews. American race-based slavery and how Christian it all was. And the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, just to pick three, where Christians wove their chosen standing into the horrors of ethnocentrism and racism and nationalism. And that's what this verse is about. Jesus saw it in his day. Gentiles were hated. To unclean catfish eaters and uncircumcised, we're not gonna even enter their house. And Jesus saw it coming. And it's been there every century of this blood-soaked globe of ours. And he gave this razor sharp warning to all of his flock, I have other sheep. Don't you dare become ingrown. Don't you dare become us few, us chosen few. I must bring them. It will cost me my life. May cost you yours. And there will be one flock with one shepherd from every ethnic group on the planet. Now at that point, you have to say, aren't you going beyond the text? Yes, I am. I'm going all the way to chapter 11. Isn't that a huge jump? So go with me to chapter 11, verses 51 to 52. John records a prophecy of the high priest named Caiaphas about the death of Jesus and what he would accomplish in his dying. And here's the way he says it, different language than sheep, but exactly the same point. John 11, 51. He prophesied that as Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only. Okay, good, good, good. I have other sheep. I have other sheep. Not for the nation only, but also to gather into one, one flock, in a different terminology, the children of God who are scattered abroad. He could have said the sheep. He said God's children are scattered. And I'm just focusing on the word scattered here. Like, oh, well, maybe they're all in Minneapolis. I don't think so. Maybe they're all in America. I don't think so. Europe, no. Africa, no. Asia, no. South America, no. Every people group. Now, aren't you going beyond that text? Yes, I'm going beyond the text. I'm going all the way to Revelation 5-9 because John wrote Revelation too. Okay. So let's finish it off. Nail it down exegetically. Revelation 5-9. The saints, the 24 elders, the four living creatures, this is built in out this song over the Lamb who was slain to say why He was slain. Why was He slain? Okay, here it is. Worthy are you to take the skull and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you made them a kingdom, one kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on earth and that's enough for me. Now I know, I know what He means when He says, I have other sheep. I must bring them also and if you agree with me now, you're seeing He's got a global purpose here for this people. I have other sheep. Must, must, it is a divine necessity which means not only will you make it to heaven, this mission's going to succeed. He died. You ransomed people for God from every tribe. He died for them. The Father gave them to Him. He's going to speak over them. How? Missionaries. Or whatever you want to call them. Who cross a culture, learn a language, let the voice of Jesus be heard and the sheep hear and they come. Don't you love to read those stories? You go into some utterly unknown people group, you take a few months, you try to get it planned and suddenly lights go on and a church happens. Why? I must bring them. That's why. So, we, Bethlehem, must not disdain potential brothers and sisters anywhere in any group. Oh, there is so much racism, so much ethnocentrism left over in America that thought we finished it off 40 years ago. We didn't. And you know we didn't. It's in your heart, it's in my heart, it's in black and white and red and yellow, it's in every heart. And the word that needs to go out continually is I have other sheep. They're in all of those groups. Don't you dare look on any of those groups with disdain. As though you don't have a brother there that's closer to you than your mom if your mom's not a believer. The bloodlines between you and your brothers and sisters in Jesus is a thicker bloodline than runs in your family. I hope it is for you. God's been gracious to us as a people. When I say people, I mean the church throughout the centuries. Has He not? I mean, could not. The patience of our God, the mercy of our God, to come back to us again and again. Let me just illustrate. In the early 1600s, John Elliot in Boston, pastor, woke up from the Puritan fold and saw that there were other sheep among the Algonquin. What a story to be told is there. Read it sometime. A century later, David Brainerd in our own land woke up from the fold of New England Congregationalism to the reality that God has other sheep among the Housatonic and the Delaware. At the end of the 18th century, William Carey woke up from the British Baptist fold and knew there are other sheep in India. I must bring them. He must bring them through my voice. Just when the mission agencies and the churches were feeling content with the coastland successes on Africa and China, Hudson Taylor woke up to the vast inland stretches of China and Peter Cameron Scott and others woke up to the vast inland stretches of Africa and all the peoples that were not yet hearing the voice where they can respond. And when all of Western Christendom began to feel content in the 20th century that every country this happened at Lausanne I, every country has been penetrated by the Gospel. Woohoo! Let's celebrate! Along comes Cameron Townsend and Ralph Winter who had been wakened to the reality of 17,000 unreached peoples and 6,000 languages with no Bible while we were celebrating having reached all the geopolitical entities of the world as if the Bible gave a rip about geopolitical entities in defining the Great Commission. So, in summary, I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, so there will be one flock and one shepherd. John 10 and 16 is the foundation of these two confidences. You will, saved like this, you will make it to heaven. You will. Be bold. Be invincible in the risks you take. Venture things for Jesus. There is a connection between the first confidence and the second confidence. It isn't there. And be encouraged that there is no doubt the mission of Jesus, the purpose of God to gather a people from all the peoples cannot fail. And your part in it, and I'll leave that wide open, maybe a little one, maybe a big one, maybe a going one, a staying one, a praying one, a giving one, or all kinds of other possibilities, it can't fail either. Any link up that your life has with this unstoppable purpose becomes an unstoppable link in your life. So I close with these four, I don't know whether to call them prayers, petitions to you, calls, prayers, take it for what you hear it. Bethlehem. This is now family. Bethlehem. We will resist all ethnic arrogance. Number two, Bethlehem. We will pursue Gospel-based diversity and Christ-exalting racial harmony. Ethnic diversity, racial harmony for the sake of the Gospel and for the sake of Christ. It's written in the fabric of our redemption. This is why He died. And Bethlehem. We will pray that the strife, transcending voice of Jesus will be heard wherever ethnic hostilities are feeding destructive riots like London, Birmingham, Manchester, and of course, our own land at various times. We will pray, Oh Christ, let Your voice from all the churches of London and Manchester and Birmingham and all the cities of the world where ethnic hostilities are feeding such horrible rioting, grant, oh God, that Your voice will be heard. We'll pray that way. And lastly, Bethlehem. May this be true long beyond John Piper for the next 140 years. We will send missionaries to the unreached peoples of the world until Jesus comes. We will, and we will pay for it and pray for it and visit for it and lay down our lives to support these called ones. And we'll do all of that on the basis of these two massive confidences. We're gonna make it to heaven, no matter what happens. And His purpose is gonna succeed. Let's pray. So Father, we tremble that we've been caught up into something so secure. Our personal lives are secure. Nobody can pluck us out of Your hand. And our corporate mission to join You in gathering Your sheep, Your children from scattered all over the world and all the people groups is so certain. We tremble that we would live unworthily of this security. Let it not be so. Make us bold and make us humble. Strip us of all ethnocentrism. Strip us of all racism and nationalism that would in any way deny that the gospel is our charter in heaven, our homeland. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/wHxt2iQW1Vc.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/john-piper/i-have-other-sheep-that-are-not-of-this-fold/ ========================================================================