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I want to welcome you to day three of our study through John chapter 10 and
daily drive time devotions. We're going to be looking at verses 14 to 26 today.
We've looked the last few days at the things that the good shepherd does in our
lives.

And as Jesus continues to talk about sheep and shepherds in John chapter 10, I
would say that the last part of this chapter is really about, well, I'd call it
basic training for sheep. He talks about how to trust the shepherd. You see, I
have a choice whether I'm going to trust the shepherd or not.

And in the words that Jesus used and the way he tells us about life, talks to us
about life, he's really teaching us basic training. He's teaching us about
trust. Over the next few days, we're going to look specifically at three ways
you and I can build trust in our relationship with Jesus.

How you can trust Jesus' character. Jesus has the character of a shepherd, so
you can trust him. How you can trust Jesus' power, Jesus is God, so he has the
power that you can trust.

And how you can trust Jesus' promise, the security in his promise that makes a
difference in everyday life. Let's launch out in this look at what I'd call
basic training for sheep, basic trust training by looking at John chapter 10
verses 14 to 18. I am the good shepherd, Jesus said.

I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of
this sheep pen.

I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one
flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life
only to take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the
authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. This command I
receive from my Father.

You hear Jesus' character in these words. Jesus says, "I know my sheep and my
sheep know me. " That's the character of Jesus Christ, the character to know us
and understand us.

And the character to help us to get to know him. I can trust his character. In
fact, the insight that Jesus gives about this is just as the Father knows me and
I know the Father.

What kind of relationship, Jesus says, do I want to have with you? The same
quality of relationship as I have with the Father. That's incredible to think
about.

That's something to build towards for the rest of your life. Never be satisfied
with the depth of fellowship that you have with Jesus because in these words we
see that it could always be deeper. It could always be more.

I've met many people who say something like this to me, "You know, I'd like to
have just one good relationship in my life. Just one high quality relationship.
Everybody seems to have let me down.

" Well, here is the one high quality relationship. Here's the one who will never
let you down. You can have one great relationship.

It is your relationship with Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ says in these verses
that we can have that relationship with him because he has laid down his life
for us. In verse 11, he said, "The shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

" He didn't want us to miss this. So in verse 14, he says, "I'm the shepherd and
so that means I am laying down my life for you. " And then there's tremendous
insight about the cross here and what happened when Jesus gave his life for us
on the cross.

Did you notice in verses 17 and 18, he says, "I lay down my life to take it up
again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have the
authority to lay it down and the authority to pick it up again.

" Jesus says here that he had the right. The Greek word exousia here is used
which means right or authority or freedom or power. He's the one who had the
right.

His life wasn't taken from him. He gave his life and he took it up again. And
then he says, it's an interesting phrase, he says, "This is the reason the
Father loves me because I do this.

" What does that mean? Does that mean that the only reason that God loved Jesus
is because he went to the cross? There's something deeper here than that.

It means that the laying down of his life is at the very core of who Jesus is.
The sacrifice that he gave for us on the cross isn't only something that Jesus
did. It's an inevitable outgrowth of who Jesus is.

And the Father and Son love one another because of who they are. I can trust
Jesus' character. I trust him because he knows me.

I trust him because he lays down his life for me. I can trust his character even
because he says it's not all about me. He says, "I'm going to bring in other
sheep or not of this fold.

" Now, John 10, 16 is an interesting verse. It's used to teach many things. Some
people say it's about this denomination here or this denomination over there.

Jesus isn't talking about denominations here of today. Look at who he's talking
to. He's talking to Jews and Gentiles.

And at that time, the Jewish people were in, quote unquote, and the Gentiles
were out. When he says, "I've got other sheep to bring in," he's talking about
bringing the Gentiles in. And the point is, he's going to bring us all in
together, following him, trusting him, because he wants to unify us under one
shepherd.

These are really verses about unity and the unity he wants to give into our
lives. How do I build trust in my relationship with Jesus Christ? I trust his
character.

I trust that he will never let me down. How do I build trust, basic trust
training for sheep? I also trust his power.

Jesus is challenged when it comes to his power in verses 19 to 21. At these
words, verse 19 says, the Jews, again, were divided. Many of them said, "He is
demon-possessed and raving mad.

Why listen to him? " But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man
possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?

" You see, they were exactly right as they argued about this. Jesus is either a
madman or he is the God-man. The truth about Jesus Christ is, when you look at
who he is, you can't go down the middle road.

You either have to listen to who he said he is, deity, God in human flesh, or
you have to say, "He was crazy because he claimed to be God. " Now, the words of
Jesus are not the words of a madman. They've changed billions of lives.

The deeds of Jesus are not the deeds of a madman. He was unselfish. He served.

The effect of Jesus, the power of Jesus' life is not the effect of a madman. You
have to choose. Is he madman or messiah?

Insanity or divinity? Crazy or Christ? Lunatic or Lord?

Say it a hundred different ways. You have to choose. Am I going to trust Jesus'
power or am I going to put him off to the side as someone to be rejected?

He's either a Lord to be followed or he's a madman to be rejected. In verses 22
to 26, Jesus confronts this. "Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem.

It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.
The Jews gathered around him, saying, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If
you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

' Jesus answered, 'I did tell you, but you did not believe me. The miracles I do
in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my
sheep. '" This Feast of Dedication, what is that?

This Feast of Dedication is also called the Festival of Lights, but that's not
usually what we call it today. You know this holiday. It's usually celebrated
around Christmas, Hanukkah, Hanukkah, which commemorates the rededication of the
temple in Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the temple had been
profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes, the king of Syria.

They would celebrate this Feast of Dedication, and Jesus is there again for the
celebration, teaching. In fact, it sets the scene for us here. The scene is
Solomon's Porch.

On Solomon's Porch, outside the temple, there were columns that were 40 feet
high, and it was a place where the rabbis would gather to teach. It was winter,
so it may have been raining, and they're on the side, protected from the cold
wind, and walking and teaching, and there's the conversation that's going on. In
that conversation, they say, "If you're the Messiah, if you're the promised one
from God, just tell us.

" And Jesus says, "I already have. " You just refuse to trust the evidence that
you see right in front of your eyes. You refuse to trust my power.

Why didn't they believe, by the way? Why didn't they believe when they saw the
miracles, when it was right in front of their eyes? Why didn't they believe?

Because they expected something else. They expected a conquering Messiah and not
a serving and sacrificing Messiah. There is a great warning to you and I here.

Your expectation of what God's going to do can keep you from seeing what God is
really doing. When I talk about trusting Jesus' power, we want to trust his
power to do exactly what we want him to do, but that's not how his power works.
His power works through our lives, in our lives, to do what he wants to do.

We talked to the Lord for a while today. I'd like to talk to him about trust. In
a time of prayer, would you just say, "Jesus Christ, help me to trust your
character and to trust your power, to trust who you are.

" It's so easy to trust myself even above you. Even as I pray this, Lord, it
sounds silly, but I do that. Help me to trust in who you are.

You're always good. I am not. You're always holy.

I need your character in my life. If I want to have the integrity that I desire
in my life, I need your character. I need to trust your character.

Help me to trust it today. God, help me to trust your power today. Not to trust
my power, my strength.

I've got some strength, but compared to you, it says nothing. Help me to trust
your strength to work through me. God, I don't deny you've given me abilities.

I don't deny that you've given me opportunities, but I also do not deny that you
are the one who has the power. And so I look to your strength and power. And I
pray that you would help me not to fall into the temptation to trust in my idea
of what you should do.

Help me instead to learn day by day to trust in you today, to trust in you. I
pray this, Jesus, in your name, amen. Join us tomorrow.

We're going to be looking at verses 27 to 29. Three of the most assuring verses
in the entire Bible.