I Have Other Sheep

Lesson #167

With this lesson we continue with the fourth section of chapter 10, defined by John 10:11 – 18. We will pick up our study at verse 16: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16 ESV). There are four important parts to this verse; 1) “I have other sheep”, 2) “I must bring them also”, 3) “They will listen to my voice”, and 4) “So there will be one flock, one shepherd”.

Before we look at these four statements, consider how one becomes a sheep. The sheep are those who have given their lives to Jesus Christ as instruments for righteousness (Romans 6:13) and their bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1). These will not perish, but will have eternal life (John 3:16). Have you given your life to Jesus Christ as an instrument for righteousness and your body as a living sacrifice? If not now is the time to do so.

Jesus says, “I have other sheep.” Who are these other sheep? Before we answer that we need to review this chapter. In verse 1, we are introduced to the sheepfold containing sheep. Jesus is the shepherd of these sheep (verse 2) and enters by the door. He calls to these sheep by name and they come to him and he leads them out (verse 3). Jesus goes before those he brought out of the sheepfold and they follow him because they know his voice (verse 4). Before Jesus calls them these people are already defined as sheep. I believe they were defined as sheep when their names were recorded in the book of life way back in the beginning. In the context of chapter 10, these sheep are the people Jesus is calling to himself during the time he was in Israel as her Messiah. He is in the process of creating a new people, a new flock. Notice, that these he calls and adds to the flock are already known as sheep that already belong to him, because when he calls them, they hear his voice and come to him.

How can people be sheep before Jesus calls them, before they are born again? The answer is found in John 17:6: “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word” (ESV). These people, these sheep, belong to the Father and he gives them to Jesus at their salvation, when being born again. These were the loss sheep that are to be brought into the fold. They are sheep because their names are in the book of life. Ephesians 1:4 helps us understand this: “For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love” (NET). From before the foundation of the world the Father had title to these sheep. They were his to do with as he pleased; these he given to the great Shepherd to give eternal life to and to keep secure forever. Today, throughout the world are these lost sheep waiting to be called and brought into the fold.

Prayer

Father, so many people struggle with this concept of sheep existing before being born again. You are sovereign and you can choose who you want to adopt, but we your sheep have been given the command to search for the lost sheep. Father, for me these two doctrines are not one or the other, as so many argue, but both. I believe you choose and we are to find those chosen. Thank you for the power and the beauty of these two doctrines working together.