Last Sunday you may recall that
we preach from Matthew's gospel chapter 7 from verses 21 through
23. Our subject was in that day,
in that day. Our Lord said that many would
say unto him in that day, Lord we've done thus and thus and
we did all this in your name and then we read And then will
I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye
that work iniquity." They never entered into glory, never entered
into heaven, because they didn't know Christ who said, I'm the
way. I'm the only way to heaven. I'm
the only way to the Father. No man can come to the Father.
No man can come to the Father's house, John 14, except he come
by me. other way. But here in John's
Gospel, chapter 10, verse 14, which is our text, our Lord says,
our Lord says, I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep. I know my sheep. Therefore, therefore,
because he's our good shepherd, not one sheep will ever hear
those dreadful, horrible words, depart from me. No, no. They'll hear the very opposite.
Welcome home. Welcome home. Enter into the
joy prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I know
my sheep. I'm the good shepherd and know
my sheep and am known of mine. That soul, I quote hymns a lot. They help me find the words to
express what I want to say. That soul that Jesus has leaned
for repose, he will not, he will not desert to its foes. Larry,
I feel like he has. Don't trust your feelings. Trust
what the Good Shepherd says. That soul, he will not desert
to its foes. That soul, though all hail, should
endeavor to shake. He'll never, no never, no never
forsake. Why? What's the reason? Does
the comfort and the security lie in the sheep? Oh, no. Is there a more feeble, foolish,
wandering animal as a sheep? A sheep can lose itself, but
it will never find its way home. A horse even will. A dog will. A cat will. A sheep won't do
it. It just won't find its way home. So the security of the
sheep doesn't lie in themselves, nothing about themselves, but
their security lies in the fact that Christ says, I'm your shepherd. I'm the good shepherd. What an encouraging, encouraging
word. The shepherd is one of the favorite
scriptural pictures of our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. When he used this metaphor, this
picture of himself as the shepherd, these people to whom he spoke,
they understood. They understood at least the
analogy. They understood something about who a shepherd was and
what a shepherd did. It was a common thing in that
day. And that's why we find it so
much in the Word of God. Turn, if you will, for just a
moment to Isaiah. We'll read a few passages and
then come back to the words of our Great Shepherd in Isaiah
chapter 40. And we find this throughout the
Word of God, this picture of Christ as our Great Shepherd. In Isaiah chapter 40 verse 9, Oh, Zion, that bring us good
tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. Oh, Jerusalem,
that bring us good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift
it up, be not afraid. Be not afraid. Say unto the cities
of Judah, Behold your God. Is that the cure for my fear?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Behold, verse 10,
the Lord God will come with strong hands, and his arms shall rule
for him. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead
them that are with young." Turning, if you will, to Ezekiel, and
all there are so many, just as it is in Isaiah, there are so
many places in Ezekiel who represent the Lord Jesus as the great shepherd
of the sheep. chapter 34 in Ezekiel, verse
22. Ezekiel 34 and 22. Therefore will I save my flock. That sounds much like what our
Lord said in John 10, doesn't it? Therefore will I save my
flock and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between
cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd
over them. And he shall feed them, even my servant David,
David's son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their
God. And my servant David, a prince among them. I, the Lord, have
spoken it." One more in chapter 37, Ezekiel chapter 37, verse
24. Ezekiel 37 and 24. And David, my servant, shall
be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd. That's
exactly what our Lord said, isn't it? Other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they'll be
one shepherd and one fold. And they all shall have one shepherd,
And they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes,
and do them." When our Lord is pleased to give his people the
sweetest revealings of his own heart, he tells them what they
are to him and what he is to them. I am the good shepherd. Verse 11, the good shepherd lays
down his life for the sheep. And these people, as we said,
the Hebrew, knew exactly what he was talking about. The Hebrew
shepherd lives with his sheep. He lived with his sheep. If they're
out in the storm, he doesn't abandon them, Louis. If he's
a faithful shepherd and the sheep encounter a storm, he stays with
them. If they're exposed to danger,
so is he. Even so, Christ lives with his
people. He enters in this closest communion
in relation with them. The shepherd knows his sheep.
That's what our text says. I am the good shepherd and know
my sheep. He has a name. And this was also
true. The shepherd, the literal shepherd
in that day, named each of his sheep. And he would call them
by name. And they recognized his voice. He would call each of them by
name. And our Lord knows his sheep
in the same way. He has a name for each one of
us and calls us by their names. Christ knows each of his own.
He has an intimate. Now listen. Now it's true, often,
you may come to your pastor, you may talk to him, and you
may leave feeling, I just don't think he quite got it. I just
don't think he can enter into what I tried to tell him. Oh,
but I know your great shepherd can, the good shepherd. He knows
his own. He has an intimate personal knowledge
of every one of his sheep. He knows our faults. our sins,
our proneness to wonder from him, and yet knowing all he does
about us, he loves us still. Nothing, nothing can separate
me, not even myself, from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus. Our Good Shepherd says, I know
my sheep. How else could he meet the demands
of each and every one of such a great flock? A multitude that
no man can number, countless numbers scattered far and wide
over the whole face of the earth, and yet he says, I know each
and every one of them. I know their names. I know their
needs. I know their individual circumstances. There's nothing about them that
I don't know, that I don't take notice of. And although others
may know us just partially, or may know you not at all, or ever
take notice of you as the world does God's people, or they may
know you and misunderstand you, they may misunderstand your motives
or misconstrue your deeds, they may be ignorant of your daily
cross, your veiled sorrow, because so often we just keep it to ourselves,
don't we? And the difficult path that you
may be treading, but nevertheless Jesus says, I know. I know. I know my sheep. I know what
you're going through. I can be touched. Your good shepherd
can be touched with the feeling of your infirmities. Oh God,
give us grace to remember we have a good shepherd. And the
good shepherd, Jesus Christ says, I know my sheep enough that Jesus
knows. Not a path perplexes me. Not a cloud shades me or overshadows
me. not a difficulty that may embarrass
me, not a need that grieves me, not a grief that distresses me,
not anyone that may wound me, but the Lord, my good shepherd,
says, I know all about it. I know it all together. He knows
the way I take, the psalmist said. And when he has tried me,
I shall come forth as gold. The psalmist, let me read you
a verse of scripture describing the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm
45 I'm reading from. And David says, prophesying of
that one who was greater than David, David's son and yet David's
God. David says, looking prophetically,
thou art fairer than the children of men. There's nobody like the
good shepherd. Grace is poured into thy lips. Wow. Psalm 45 verse 2. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God has blessed thee
forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty
ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness. And thy right hand shall teach
thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the
heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under
thee. Oh, grace is poured into thy
lips. Now hear this gracious word from
your good shepherd. Fear not, little flock. Little flock, fear not. It is your father's good pleasure. It pleases God to give you the
kingdom. Isaiah prophesied concerning
the good shepherd that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. All that God is pleased to do,
Christ will accomplish. And it's the Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Believers are God's people. They're
the sheep of his fold. And God's son, that man who is
himself God, he's their good shepherd. Psalm 95, verse 6,
O come, let us worship and bow down. Well, if we don't bow down,
we've not worshiped. We've not worshipped and I don't
mean bowed the knee but bowed the heart. Oh come let us worship
and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord
our maker. He is our God and we are the
people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh come, let
us worship the Lord our maker. The Lord is my shepherd, David
said in that sweet, sweet psalm. And our Lord says I'm the good
shepherd and I know my sheep. Peter said we were a sheep going
astray. We are by nature children of
wrath like all others, dead in trespasses and sins, no different
than any other except this, Christ has marked his sheep. They hear
my voice. They're marked on the ear. and
on the foot, hearing my voice, they followed me." Peter again,
he said, "'Ye were a sheep going astray, but are now returned
unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls.'" Bishop, the
word is guardian. You return to the shepherd and
guardian of your souls. Paul used that same sweet word. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd
of the sheep. The best thing for a sheep to
do. When, Larry? At what times? All
the time. The worst thing he can do is
not to do this. The best thing he can do is just
keep his eyes on the shepherd. Is that not so? Is that not what
our Lord says here? I know you. And that word, know,
and we'll get into that, means so much more than just to have
knowledge of. That's true of the goats. Oh,
but when he says, I know my sheep, I know you intimately. I've known
you everlastingly. I love you with an everlasting
love. And the best thing we can do
is keep our eyes on the shepherd. My son came down last week, Tuesday,
and brought his daughters, Laurel, who's 11, and Allie, Allison,
who is 9. And I was teasing them the other
night. They had played a joke on me, and I said, I'll get you. What goes around comes around.
I said, when you go to bed tonight, I'm going to wait till you sleep,
and I'm going to sneak in. And what are you going to do,
Pawpaw? I said, well, you just wait and see. And Allie, she
never took her eyes off of me the rest of the day. She just
kept watching. When she got ready for bed, she'd look. She just
kept watching. Wouldn't take her eyes off of me, wondering
what Pawpaw was going to do. She'd say, I'm watching you,
Pawpaw. I'm keeping my eye on you, Pawpaw.
I said, wait till you go to sleep. Oh, I'm not going to sleep. I'm
watching you. The best thing we can do is keep our eyes on
our shepherd. Ask Peter. Peter, come to me
on that stormy sea, our Lord said. And you know the story.
A simple illustration of what I'm saying. As long as Peter
kept his eyes on Christ, Larry, there was a storm. Yeah, he was.
There was great waves. Yes, there was. There was boisterous
winds. Yes, there was. But Peter kept
his eyes on Christ and as long as he did so, he was safe. Oh,
but he took his eyes off. He took his eyes off just that
quick. He began to sink. Remember what
our Lord said? When he reached out his hand
and picked him up, O you of little faith, keep your eyes upon Christ. The best thing you can do after
you've beheld the Lamb of God is just keep beholding the Lamb
of God, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Just look, look, and look again. Is that not what comforts your
heart? When the storms of life are raging, what comforts you
most? To have the sweet assurance that
my great shepherd is near at hand. He's right there leading
me and he will lead me all the way. You may fear that the Lord
has passed you by. Oh, Larry, a believer never feels
that. If you haven't, raise your hand. And I put mine down as
well. Yes, we can. You say it's not
so. Oh, yes, it's not so. Thank God
it's not so. But we sometimes fear that it
is. Let me say this. He who counts
the stars and calls them all by name is in no danger of forgetting
his own children. He knows your case as thoroughly
as if you were the only creature he ever made." Now, I know my
sheep. He knows you as if you were the
only believer, the only elect he ever had. Child of God, you
cost the good shepherd way too much for him to forget you. Isaiah
63. The Good Shepherd says, grace
is poured into his lips. And he says, to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes and
the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Verse 10 of Isaiah
61. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. For he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. What more do we need to rejoice? I am his and he is mine. Just about every morning, there's
a bird that's right outside the living room window. Man, he sings,
or she, that bird sings beautifully. Just beautiful. I mean, you wonder
how such volume can come out of such a little creature. And
I think to myself, my soul, if that bird can sing to his creator,
how much more should this redeemed sinner sing to God's glory for
the unspeakable gift of his son? Isaiah 49 verse 13, sing, O heavens. and be joyful, O earth, and break
forth into singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted his
people and will have mercy upon his afflicted." I can't emphasize enough what
these very promises emphasize. God says, I will. I will. I shall. I shall. That makes it certain. But Zion
said, here we go taking our eyes off Christ. And Zion said, the
Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me. And here's
his answer to that. Can a woman forget her suckling
child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her
womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget you. Behold,
I have graven you upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually
before me." Mr. Spurgeon said, the Lord's mercy
often rides to the door of our heart upon the black horse of
affliction. He also said, I have a great
need for Christ and I have a great Christ for my need. Do we not? The shepherd, remember, concerning
your eternal salvation, concerning the keeping, the preserving of
your soul, it's not your responsibility. That should be good news to you.
It's not your responsibility. Aren't you glad that it's not?
Because you and I are prone to wonder. We're prone to leave
the God we love. If our preservation is determined
by our own strength or wisdom or anything about us, then we're
gone. We're goners. We don't have a
prayer, as the saying goes. But the responsibility for the
sheep doesn't lie with the sheep. The responsibility, as our Lord
said again and again in these verses, lies with our good shepherd. God Almighty holds him responsible. Remember what he said in John
6. I came down from heaven. This is exactly what he's saying.
He's saying, my father has made me responsible for the sheep. That's my responsibility. That's
my job. Then why should I worry about
it? Why should I, Fred? I'm in His hands. He's watching
over me. Why do I stay up and lose sleep? He that keepeth Israel, He never
slumbers and He never sleeps. Why don't I just lie down and
rest? Listen to what the Good Shepherd
said. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh unto me,
I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he
hath given me..." Oh, listen to our good shepherd, the great
shepherd, the chief shepherd, my shepherd. He says, "...of
all which the Father hath given me, I should lose nothing." Nothing. Oh, Great Shepherd, you mean
that multitude that John saw that no man can number? You mean
those countless, countless multitudes of redeemed sinners? You won't
lose one of them? What about denying Peter? No
man can pluck them out. What about wondering, Larry,
none can pluck Him out of my hand. Of all that the Father
gave me, that He entrusted into my hands, that I agreed. I agreed
to be surety for. I said, yes, I'll be responsible
for them. I'll do all that you require
for them. I'll live for them. I'll die
for them. I'll arise for them. I'll intercede
for them. I'll do everything for them,
and I won't lose one. Oh, faithful, good, blessed shepherd,
I do believe that of all which the Father gave him, in that
everlasting covenant of grace and that he agreed to do all
that was necessary to bring them back to the Father's house, I
do believe that he's up to the task. Don't you? Most of you
may not be aware of it, but up there in Augusta, Georgia, they're
playing the Masters this week. Your pastor, chases that little
white ball on occasion. But I chuckled the other day
when I was watching them talk about the past and the difficulty
of the course. And they quoted one golfer as
saying, after he played it and didn't play it very well, he'd
say, well, I won't say that it's impossible to shoot a good score
on this course. But he says it requires skills
that I just don't possess. Let me tell you this. concerning
the salvation of any sinner. Who then can be saved? With men,
it's impossible. It requires skills, wisdom, power,
grace that I do not possess. But he who is my good shepherd,
he's up to the task. With him, nothing's impossible. Can the good shepherd do it?
Oh, yes, he can. Look again at verse 9 here in
John 10. I'm the door. By me, if any man
enter in, he might be saved. He might be saved. God forbid
that we think such a thing. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him. No matter how fallen, no matter
how depraved, no matter how sinful, no matter how far that prodigal
son or daughter has wandered away, the arm of God's omnipotence
is not shortened that it cannot save. That's our Good Shepherd. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved. And that just doesn't mean saved
today, but saved tomorrow, and saved all the days of my life,
and saved forever, saved in eternity with an everlasting salvation. Anything less than that would
be a dishonor to my good shepherd. If he doesn't bring all of his
sheep home, the dishonor will not be on me, it'll be on him. And that's never going to happen.
That's never going to happen. And he shall go in and out, and
he shall find pasture. Look at verse 11. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Verse 17. Therefore doth my Father love
me. It doesn't sound like he has any doubts about his ability
to keep his sheep. Therefore doth my Father love
me because I laid down my life that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. Jesus Christ
is the only one who could ever say that. I have power to lay
it down and to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Yeah, it sounds like he's up
to the task. Is he able to save to the uttermost? Can he keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day? Can he keep me from falling and
present me faultless before the throne of God Almighty? The great
shepherd says, yes, I can. I know my sheep. And God himself said, behold
my righteous servant, Isaiah 42. Look at him. Consider him. Behold Him. Do you have your eyes upon Him?
Are you focused on the Good Shepherd? Then hear what God Himself says.
He shall not fail. He shall not fail. He'll accomplish
everything I entrusted into His hands. I am the Good Shepherd,
He says, as opposed to those Pharisees in the context who
only claim to be the Shepherd. Christ was talking to them. But
concerning the Good Shepherd Christ, God's Good Shepherd, we read of Him, when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to what? To try to redeem. That just leaves
a sour taste in my mouth. I don't even like to say that.
I know a lot of preachers do, but no, no. He didn't try to
redeem. He sent forth his son to redeem
them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption
of sons. I come to do thy will, O my God. Awake, O sword. God in his infinite,
righteous, pure justice said, Awake, O sword, against the man
who is my fellow. Smite the shepherd. And that's
exactly what he did. I think it's interesting to note
that in Psalm 22, before David in Psalm 23 could say, the Lord
is my shepherd, Psalm 22 says that shepherd must first be smitten. Psalm 22 is a record. It begins
with the very words of Christ from the cross, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? I've trodden the winepress alone,
I've drank damnation dry, and after doing so David could say,
now the Lord is my shepherd, my cup runs over with mercy and
grace everlasting because the great shepherd died for me. For the sheep. I am the good
shepherd. I am. Notice that. That's in the present
tense. That's in the present tense,
Don. Sometimes, believers, we act like he was the Good Shepherd. He was Peter's Good Shepherd.
He was Paul's Good Shepherd. He was their Good Shepherd. Oh,
but me, me, oh, no. Oh, woe is me. No, no, no, no. Christ says, I am. Not that I
want to be, I'll try to be, or I might be. He says, I am. Present
tense. I am the Good Shepherd. Not I
was. I am your good shepherd. He still
seeks. And he still finds his sheep,
no matter where they may wander. And he still saves them. And
he still brings them home. And he still rejoices to do so. He's still the door. Christ says
that He is the Good Shepherd. He always is. And He will never
cease being the Good Shepherd. He will never cease being our
Good Shepherd. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
He laid down His life for us. What will He not give to us? What will God not withhold from
us. He gave us his son. This is exactly
what Paul said in Romans. He said, if God be for us, who
can be against us? We sometimes say, me included. Perhaps I should say, me especially. Oh, the way is long, and I'm
weary, and the road's dark, and I don't have any light, and the
temptations are so many, and I Don't feel like I can resist
them. I need grace. Where can I find
it? How can I persevere? Hear the answer of your good
shepherd. I am. I am right now. I am the good
shepherd. He feeds his flock like a shepherd. Psalm 40. He shall gather the
lambs with his arm. and carry them in his bosom,
and shall, shall, shall, shall, gently lead those that are with
young, for I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand." Oh, what a comforting picture
that is. When our children were young
and they would cross the street, we wouldn't, we dare not think
about letting them do it alone. Take my hand. Hold on to me. Don't you let go. That's the
picture. The Lord thy God will hold thy
hand saying unto thee, fear not, fear not, don't be afraid, don't
be afraid, I will help thee. Christ's sheep are absolutely
safe in his keeping. We read it. I give them eternal
life. They will never perish, never. Never. No one will snatch him
out of my hand and at last he'll bring all of his sheep safely
home and he said they will be one flock and one shepherd. The other day when I was visiting
the hospital, visiting Mike and Bobby, spent a good time with each other
and Bobby said, You know, Larry, each day, God seems to give me
a song. He gives me a song, and I go
all day long with that song in my heart. And I think it was
Thursday. She said, the day my song's been,
I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. That's enough. That's enough. In the Song of Solomon we read,
My beloved is mine and I am his. I know my sheep, Christ said,
and they know me. They know me. He's mine because
the Father gave him to me. Thou gavest them me, he said
in John 17. And I'm his because the Father
gave me to him. He's mine And I am his by a divine
union. As divine is to the branch, the
head to the body, my husband is Christ. And what God Almighty
had joined together, no man, nothing shall ever put asunder.
He's mine, and I'm his by purchase. He bought me with his own precious
blood. I'm not my own. I'm bought with
a price. He's mine, and I'm his by a mutual
affection. He loves me. He loves me. And I can't explain that. I don't
know why he would love me. And I love him. I've got lots of reasons to love
him. And he's mine and I'm his forever. The union of Christ
and his church can no more be dissolved than the Trinity can
be dissolved. I in them and thou in me. Child of God, read the words
one more time. And may God impress them upon
your heart. Now, when you leave here, when
you go through difficulties, darkness, hear the sweet words
in whose lips God has poured his grace, saying unto you, I
am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and I am known of mine. Let me bring the message to a
close by reading a few verses of a hymn, a song by Mr. Fortner. Behold the good shepherd
who died for his sheep. The sheep he has purchased the
shepherd will keep. He promised his father, though
number untold, he would bring all safely back to his fold. Now for his own honor the shepherd
will search until he finds his sheep scattered over all the
earth. And when he has found them, he calls them by name.
By saving his lost ones, the shepherd wins fame. I am one
of Christ's sheep, weak, helpless, and frail. But Christ is my shepherd,
and he cannot fail. The hand that has saved me holds
me in his grace. No power can harm me or break
his embrace." Thank God for our good shepherd. Lord bless you.