April 26th 2026
My Sheep Listen To My Voice; I Know Them, And They Follow Me!
John 10:27-30 (NIV)
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will 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. I and the Father are one.”
The Jews gathered round 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 do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"(John 10:24-27, 31-32).
The terminology from Jesus’ time of walking this earth may be confusing for anyone who has not studied God’s Word as given to us in our Bible. During that time when shepherds came into transact business, they would bring their sheep herd with them and leave them in large pens with other shepherd’s sheep. Then when they were ready to leave the town and go back to the grazing areas, they would open the gate to the large sheep pen and call their sheep. The sheep would recognize their shepherd’s voice, and the sheep would leave the pen and follow the shepherd.
So here Jesus is proclaiming Himself to be the Good Shepherd and thus being the voice recognized by all those who have come to believe that Jesus is the Savior offered to this cursed world, as the only Way offered by God for us to claim salvation for our immortal soul! It is true our lives will be improved in this world, but the big payoff is that followers of Jesus Christ will be put on the narrow path that leads our immortal soul to heaven and being united with God the Father.
Paul wrote about this vision all believers need to develop of our future guaranteed by Jesus’ resurrection of a hereafter we can believe even if this worldly life may not seem blessed. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:19-22). Believers are being tortured and even martyred in this cursed world every day! What it seems Paul is teaching here is if you only hope for a better life in this world by following Jesus Christ then you are to be pitied, as you are underestimating the full and eternal blessing of working on becoming more Christ-like while still living in this world.
Another view of what Paul wrote here could be that if we want to gain improvement of our worldly life by seeming to follow Jesus, but you do not believe there is an afterlife, then “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” The Sadducees who were a part of the religious organization of the Jews during Jesus time on this earth did not believe human beings possessed an immortal soul, and thus, they did not believe in eternal life for mankind. In this world today there are atheists who do not believe they or we have an immortal soul, and thus, when we die in this cursed world that is The End!
Believing that every human being has an immortal soul is the most important belief, as it is required for salvation to be possible. If like animals, when humans die that is the end, then there is no afterlife, and there is no need for God or gods, or Satan who control this world! However, God created the universe for a place for mankind to live and to rule over! God gave us the account of this creation of everything we see and feel, in the book of Genesis. Here is part of that account. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:27-28).
Most people in this cursed world do not believe this Biblical account of creation, and therefore, they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Statistically only about one third of the over eight billion people in this world profess to be Christians. Many of those professing to be Christians do not believe the creation account given in our Bible. I believe that means less than three billion of the total of eight billion people in this world today will have their immortal soul ending up in heaven some day!
It is a shame that more people in this cursed world today will have their immortal soul ending up in hell some day! Paul wrote about this terrible consequence as he says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20). Do you believe that God/Jesus created everything in this universe? Some people believe everything we see came about by some random chance processes called evolution! Some professing Christians believe that God used this process to create this earth and evolve humans from animals over billions of years. This would mean there was death before sin, and thus, no first or original sin drought death into this cursed world. If that is true, then there cannot be a Savior to grant salvation for death in this evolved world!
Paul wrote about the creation accounts as described in Genesis and how death came into this cursed world by that original sin, and thus, a Savior can offer salvation by serving as the perfect sacrifice required by God. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). As Paul says, we can be saved from the death of our body in this cursed world as “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” But God’s salvation plan enables us to be cleansed from our sins. As Paul says, “thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe it! Jesus came into this world to be the perfect sacrifice required by God, so that your immortal soul can be born again, and thus, escape the second death, and avoid ending up in hell. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus is the Answer!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
John 10:27-30 (NIV)
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will 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. I and the Father are one.”
The Jews gathered round 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 do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"(John 10:24-27, 31-32).
The terminology from Jesus’ time of walking this earth may be confusing for anyone who has not studied God’s Word as given to us in our Bible. During that time when shepherds came into transact business, they would bring their sheep herd with them and leave them in large pens with other shepherd’s sheep. Then when they were ready to leave the town and go back to the grazing areas, they would open the gate to the large sheep pen and call their sheep. The sheep would recognize their shepherd’s voice, and the sheep would leave the pen and follow the shepherd.
So here Jesus is proclaiming Himself to be the Good Shepherd and thus being the voice recognized by all those who have come to believe that Jesus is the Savior offered to this cursed world, as the only Way offered by God for us to claim salvation for our immortal soul! It is true our lives will be improved in this world, but the big payoff is that followers of Jesus Christ will be put on the narrow path that leads our immortal soul to heaven and being united with God the Father.
Paul wrote about this vision all believers need to develop of our future guaranteed by Jesus’ resurrection of a hereafter we can believe even if this worldly life may not seem blessed. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:19-22). Believers are being tortured and even martyred in this cursed world every day! What it seems Paul is teaching here is if you only hope for a better life in this world by following Jesus Christ then you are to be pitied, as you are underestimating the full and eternal blessing of working on becoming more Christ-like while still living in this world.
Another view of what Paul wrote here could be that if we want to gain improvement of our worldly life by seeming to follow Jesus, but you do not believe there is an afterlife, then “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” The Sadducees who were a part of the religious organization of the Jews during Jesus time on this earth did not believe human beings possessed an immortal soul, and thus, they did not believe in eternal life for mankind. In this world today there are atheists who do not believe they or we have an immortal soul, and thus, when we die in this cursed world that is The End!
Believing that every human being has an immortal soul is the most important belief, as it is required for salvation to be possible. If like animals, when humans die that is the end, then there is no afterlife, and there is no need for God or gods, or Satan who control this world! However, God created the universe for a place for mankind to live and to rule over! God gave us the account of this creation of everything we see and feel, in the book of Genesis. Here is part of that account. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:27-28).
Most people in this cursed world do not believe this Biblical account of creation, and therefore, they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Statistically only about one third of the over eight billion people in this world profess to be Christians. Many of those professing to be Christians do not believe the creation account given in our Bible. I believe that means less than three billion of the total of eight billion people in this world today will have their immortal soul ending up in heaven some day!
It is a shame that more people in this cursed world today will have their immortal soul ending up in hell some day! Paul wrote about this terrible consequence as he says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20). Do you believe that God/Jesus created everything in this universe? Some people believe everything we see came about by some random chance processes called evolution! Some professing Christians believe that God used this process to create this earth and evolve humans from animals over billions of years. This would mean there was death before sin, and thus, no first or original sin drought death into this cursed world. If that is true, then there cannot be a Savior to grant salvation for death in this evolved world!
Paul wrote about the creation accounts as described in Genesis and how death came into this cursed world by that original sin, and thus, a Savior can offer salvation by serving as the perfect sacrifice required by God. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). As Paul says, we can be saved from the death of our body in this cursed world as “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” But God’s salvation plan enables us to be cleansed from our sins. As Paul says, “thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe it! Jesus came into this world to be the perfect sacrifice required by God, so that your immortal soul can be born again, and thus, escape the second death, and avoid ending up in hell. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus is the Answer!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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