Praise God for His expansive vision of the covenant of grace. Praise God there is one hope, one faith, one baptism, one Lord and Savior of all – Jesus Christ. There is one flock and one shepherd. One pasture and one Pastor. The gospel is highly offensive but broadly applicable to all people everywhere.

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. – John 10:16

This past week we had a missionary come visit our congregation. What was amazing was the rabbit trail he sent me down. Do you know how many different types of sheep there are? There are more than 200 distinct breeds of sheep! There are skinny sheep. Fluffy sheep. Hairy sheep. Sheep with horns. Sheep with nubs. There are black sheep, white sheep, brown sheep, spotted sheep, and straight down the middle half-colored sheep. There are short-tailed sheep and there are fat-tailed sheep.

The point this missionary was making was that Jesus had other sheep. They didn’t sound like the Jewish sheep. They may not have looked like the Jewish sheep. They may not have been the same color as the Jewish sheep. But, they were Jesus’s sheep and he was bound and determined to save them. Jesus would call and they would answer.

The Great Commission

It took some time for the Apostles to understand this but eventually they got it.

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