May I please God to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his holy word. Let us turn
to the gospel of John chapter 10 and we'll read verse 14. The gospel of John and chapter
10 and reading verse 14. I am the good shepherd. and know my sheep, and am known
of mine. It's very wonderful for us to
realise that in the Word of God there are many illustrations
which God gives us so that we're able to understand what we might
refer to as the deep which coucheth beneath. That means underneath
the surface there is wonderful truth in the Word of God. And here in this tenth chapter,
the Lord Jesus uses this very wonderful picture of sheep and
a shepherd. I'm sure most of us are familiar
with sheep, thankfully, in our country. We have many opportunities
to see sheep in the fields and see them wandering about. And
it is often a very pleasant sight, especially in the spring when
we see the lambs being born and also frolicking around. So it's
a wonderful natural picture for us. Well, the Lord Jesus, he
refers himself as the Good Shepherd. That means He is the shepherd,
like a shepherd look after sheep naturally. He is the good shepherd
and he looks after his people who are referred to as sheep. So we should be thankful that
we have an illustration like this to direct us to the greatness
of God, to the mercy of God, to the compassion of God that
he does. continue to remember us, he doesn't
forget us, and he looks upon us. And so he says, I am the
good shepherd. You may have noticed as we read
this chapter, the same phrase occurs in a previous verse, in
the 11th verse, when the Lord says, I am the good shepherd. And then it follows on to say,
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. shepherd today still has to look
after sheep perhaps not quite the same in our country but more
specifically in the Middle East where there is more of a nomadic
life and there are small flocks of sheep and they have shepherds
who look after them night and day and guide and direct them
to places of pasture so that they can feed. It's interesting to know that
these shepherds they do lead the flock and the flock do follow
them. I remember years ago I was privileged
when I was in Iraq on a Sunday I was there and I was able to
sit and I was able to watch a shepherd who had a flock and he was leading
the flock and the flock very willingly followed him But it
was very significant that when they came to a difficult place
where perhaps they were fearful of following, he then got behind
them and actually drove the little flock across the difficult place
so that they got across safely. And therefore we can think of
that in a spiritual way. The Lord does lead his people
sometimes we need a lot of encouragement to perhaps walk in a certain
way we may be very fearful of that which is before us and perhaps
the Lord does come then and perhaps as it were prods us and pushes
us and directs us to go on and to not stay back and so as we
have an account like this in this Word of God to realise that
today we have this heavenly shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm
sure you are familiar with David. David was a shepherd. King David
was a shepherd and he was very able, therefore, to write about
being a shepherd. And he wrote, as you probably
know, that beautiful 23rd Psalm. And it starts off with those
words, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. And what does
that mean? Well, David had complete confidence
in God as his shepherd. And that if God was his shepherd,
as he believed he was, and as he'd experienced that he was,
he knew that he had no cause to fear any evil. because God
was with him and God was instructing him and God was directing him. We should be very thankful therefore
that God hasn't changed, he's the same today. And as David
said, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth
me beside the still waters. The Lord knows where those places
of blessing are He knows where there are still waters in comparison
with a stormy sea. And the Lord directs us and brings
us into these places where we are favoured to have union and
communion with the Heavenly Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a
blessing then to know indeed that He is the Good Shepherd. He knows about us and he knows
exactly what we need. David knew it. He knew it in
a very specific way because David was a man that wandered like
we do, a man that had a heart like we do, a man that sometimes
sinned like we do, many things David was aware of. And he tells
us he, this heavenly shepherd, came to David and restored his
soul. You may say, well, what is the
relevance of that? Well, sometimes in our lives,
you know, we can become, I should say, hard-hearted. Perhaps we
can be far off. Perhaps we can become worldly-minded. And therefore our soul is not
healthy as it should be. And yet what a mercy to realise
that we have a shepherd who knows about us and knows what we need,
just like an earthly shepherd with a flock. And he comes and
restores our soul. When I was a student, I used
to go and work on a farm. Easter holidays and summer holidays. And the farm that I worked on,
the farmer had a flock of sheep. And it was instructive, really,
to notice how that flock had to be looked after. He couldn't
just leave the flock to wander around. go and count the sheep,
first of all, to make sure they were all there. And then secondly,
he would stand and carefully watch them to see whether any
were limping about or whether perhaps they had other diseases. And he would carefully watch
them all to see whether there were any problems. And if there
were, it was interesting what he had to do. He wasn't able
just to single out one and go and catch that single sheep.
That would have been very difficult. But he had to herd all the sheep
into a pen. So they were all together then,
and the sheep follow one another. They all went into the pen, and
then he was able then to go and take the sheep, which had a problem,
and grasp it easily, and take it out from the pen, and then
deal with it, whatever was necessary. So we see how the Lord dealt,
and also there were those times, used to be, not quite so much
nowadays, but every year all the flock had to be dipped, had
to pass through a bath of water with some type of disinfectant
put in it, and they had to pass right through it, and remained
in it for quite a few seconds, and the farmer made sure they
were completely covered. He used to, with a rod, push
the head underneath the water so they were completely immersed,
so they were freed from the various bugs which could easily have
an adverse effect. Well, you see, the Lord knows
about us today, in our little lives. And isn't it wonderful
to think that this shepherd this gracious shepherd he looks at
us he knows what we need he watches us he sees whether we are perhaps
lame and whether we do need perhaps restoring well David was able
to tell us he restoreth my soul and it's very humbling to think
this great God looks upon us utterly insignificant and unworthy
of any notice and yet he takes us in hand. He brings us perhaps out of the
flock and deals with us to restore us to spiritual health and strength. So that once again we We're not
lame, you know. Sometimes the sheep were lame
because they used to get what is termed foot rot. And the hoof
needed to be dealt with. The horn needed to be cut off
and painted with some medical substance so that it would heal. You see, you and I sometimes
need to be dealt with like that. We might be lame in the things
of God. We're not walking very well.
Perhaps we're definitely not running, we're not even walking
very well. It may be because we're lame. And we need the Lord
to come and to graciously cut out that which is infected, that
which is not good, and treat it accordingly. the Lord knows
you see what we need well it's good isn't it to realise that
a natural shepherd looks after his sheep the heavenly shepherd
looks after his sheep and how glorious it is to realise this
great God who has so many sheep in this vast world so many people
to look after None are forgotten. We're not forgotten. God knows
where we are. He knows what we need. He knows
our spiritual condition. What a blessing, therefore, to
realise, yes, this gracious God looks upon me. And to be able
to come, like David says, He restores my soul, brings me back
once again into a healthy condition, You may say, well, what does
that mean? Well, just very simply, it may be we've become lukewarm. And of course, the word of God
speaks against a lukewarm Christian. In the seven churches, the last
church referred to was the church in Laodicea. And the criticism
of that was that they were lukewarm. Well many people today are indeed
lukewarm and we need the Lord to come and to restore our soul
and make us once again healthy and surely that results in perhaps
our Bible reading may have been pushed to the background. We
may not have read it at least we may not have read it with
any real desire and we found that we weren't so keen to read
it as we were and perhaps the same with prayer we may have
been praying a lot and now that's kind of gone into the background
and now just a few words suffice and we just rush through it well
what a mercy then if we are in that condition And God knows,
and you know, and I know, to realize that here we have a great
and glorious promise. He restoreth my soul. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd. He knows his
sheep. He knows about us. He knows what we need. Isn't
that wonderful? He doesn't just leave us to fend
for ourselves. He's ever watchful. Be mindful
of that. the Lord is ever watchful on
all his people. And so David says, he leadeth
me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. And the
reason for that is to bring honor and glory to his great and holy
name. You see, it's a good thing naturally
to have a healthy flock. Again, sometimes I used to go
to the market to watch the sheep being sold. And the auctioneer
sometimes would make a comment about a particular flock and
a particular farmer. And he would sometimes be very
complimentary and say, well, this flock's been looked after
well. This farmer's very careful and
very caring what he does. Well, that's true, my friends,
with the whole household of faith. God's flock. He looks after. He's a good shepherd. He doesn't
leave us to just wander on aimlessly. What a mercy then today to be
able to come and recognise, yes, I do have a good shepherd. I wonder if you and I can look
back in our lives, look back perhaps maybe over the last week,
maybe the last month, perhaps a year, to be able to come and
say, yes, I have a good shepherd. He's dealt with me in love to
my soul. I understand what David wrote. He restores my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Well, says
David, Yea, thou walk'st through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. Well, that clearly is not an
easy path, is it? The shadow of death means that
death appears to be very close. Thou walk'st through the valley
of the shadow of death, he's able to say, I fear no evil. And why does he fear no evil?
Because he has a good shepherd. And what does he say of this
good shepherd? For thou art with me. For thou
art with me. He had the blessed evidence of
it in his life. Thou art with me. You know the
Previous verse that I refer to, the 11th verse, it says, I am
the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for his sheep. What a wonderful shepherd we
have, who gave his life that you and I might receive life. This is the greatness of this
heavenly shepherd. And so David's able to say, for
thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. That means the sheep were being
directed by the good shepherd. What a mercy that is for us today
to realize the Lord is with us. And surely this must be a comfort
as you and I journey on through life, a comfort that the Lord
is with us. And he goes on, Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest
my head with oil. My cup runneth over. He experienced the love of God. He experienced the favour of
God. He experienced unity with God. He experienced the glorious evidence
that God was with him. And because of that, he was able
to say, my cup runneth over, not only full, but blessed so
greatly, it overflowed with the goodness and mercy of God. Well, especially you see as,
go back in this psalm to those words, he restoreth my soul. I think then of the great blessing
of God to bring David to such a condition and to bring the
church of God to such a condition and to bring you and me to such
a wonderful and blessed condition so we're able to say, my cup
runneth over well it's a good thing if we do enter into the
evidence of God's work upon us so that we are able to testify
in such words And we should desire to be able to testify in such
words. And therefore, he's able to come
and conclude with this wonderful last verse, this sixth verse
in this 23rd Psalm. So he has here this confidence. It's a good thing when the Holy
Spirit has shown to us the love and mercy and compassion of this
good shepherd toward us, so that we're able to come with David
with a humble but sure and true confidence. Surely, because of
this, surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life, be they few or be they many. God is faithful. Now let's not forget that. It
is in the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. God is faithful. Surely therefore, goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And then he
concludes with this glorious thing, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever he was able to have that confidence
in his God and therefore to look beyond this life to that time
of glory and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
now the blessing is this if you and I are the sheep of this blessed
flock of God, and to have the evidence that God is dealing
with us as His sheep, then this is true, that we will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever, because none of God's sheep are
lost. They may wander away, God knows
where they go. God's watching over them. You
may remember that wonderful parable the Lord Jesus gave about the
99 sheep in the wilderness. There were 99 and one had wandered
off. The Lord knew where that sheep
was and he went after that sheep and he picked up that sheep And
he put it on his shoulders and brought it back to the flock. Surely that is what this means
here, he restoreth my soul. And so you see the Lord never
leaves his flock, he never leaves his sheep. His eye is always
upon them. May you and I be encouraged by
that truth. Surely then, goodness and mercy
shall follow me. All the days of my life, remember,
be they many or few, every day, God's goodness and mercy is toward
us. We don't always realise it. We
don't always acknowledge it. But it's good sometimes to just
come aside and to meditate. upon the Lord's goodness and
mercy and be able therefore to conclude with David as he had
this good and humble confidence in his God and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever. You know sometimes we're perhaps
fearful of our profession and fearful for our spiritual life
But it's good, you know, that when we're able to look into
the way that the Lord God has led us, the way the Lord God
has blessed us, in those ways, in those paths, that we cannot
but acknowledge it is the work of God. And to realise, therefore,
these words are very true, I am the good shepherd and the Lord
says he knows my sheep and am known of mine. That means in
a double aspect it means the Lord knows us and also that we
know the Lord. You see it's a two-way thing.
a great encouragement as we have these experiences to know that
God is mindful of us and God is dealing with us in love to
our souls. What a blessing it is then to
come into this situation and realise because The Lord says
further on in this same 10th chapter, in verse 27, he says,
my sheep, hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. That means security. That means we're safe in the
arms of Jesus. That means the Lord will never
leave us nor forsake us. I am the good shepherd and know
my sheep. The Lord knows every one of his
sheep. And my friends, he deals with
every one of his sheep. And the evidence of spiritual
life is to know that God is dealing with us. As he dealt with David,
as he dealt with all the patriarchs, as he's dealt with the saints
of God down through time, as he deals with us still today,
he deals with his people. I am the good shepherd. my sheep
hear my voice and that means very wonderfully and very solemnly
and very truthfully that every single sheep pretty naturally
every single child of God without any exception because it says
here my sheep it's inclusive my sheep Hear my voice. Well, therefore, what a blessing
it is if we have this great evidence that we are a child of God, that
we are one of God's sheep, part of his flock, because we have
heard his voice. in whatever way that may be.
And it may be... I sometimes think of the... You see, the Word of God is wonderful
in its illustrations. You remember there was Elisha,
a great man of God, who expected, as he stood in that cave's mouth,
to hear God's Word speaking powerfully to him. And there was thunder
and lightning, there was an earthquake and there's winds, But God's
voice wasn't in that to him. And how did God's voice come
to Elijah? It came like this. A still, small
voice. Don't expect a great, roaring
voice. But what a blessing if God has
touched your heart, perhaps nudged your conscience, perhaps directed
you in a right way a different way from what you were doing
your conscience was affected your mind was moved and it was
the still small voice of God but it was the voice of God the Word of God tells us this
We're not to despise the day of small things. Never turn away from something
which you may think is so small it's not worth noticing. Still small voice. It had an effect upon Elijah. It had an effect. And what a
wonderful thing is, if it has an effect upon you and me. See,
that's really the proof that it emanates from God. Because
it's not something you'll want to throw away. Because God, in
his love to your soul, has come and spoken. Remember then, my sheep hear
my voice. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and have known of mine. So as you see, as I said, a two-way
position. God knows us, and we do know
him. And we want to know him. My friends,
we don't want to wander on aimlessly through life. without having
evidence that we are a child of God, without having evidence
that we are one of God's sheep. We want to have the wonderful
evidence that we are, because when the Lord gives us that humble
confidence that we are, I believe there is a fulfillment then of
these words and a desire to follow that which the word tells us
here. And I know them and they follow
me. As I've said, sheep follow the
shepherd. And again, going back to my student
days when I used to go and work on the farm, I used to go with
the farmer sometimes to the sheep and sometimes I used to go by
myself to do certain things, If the farmer went, the sheep
knew him and he really just by walking amongst them they came
to him or he would call them and they would come to him. But
if I did it, they didn't know me and they didn't take any notice. I was just some interloper. Well my friends, what a blessing
it is then when we see the blessed and glorious shepherd of our
souls And because we know him, because we've heard his voice,
we're attracted to him and we want to go with him and we want
to follow him where he leads. And so here we have this statement
here. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. And you know, it won't be a hardship. It'll be a privilege and it'll
be a joy to be a true follower, to have the evidence that we
are one of God's children. What a blessing, because as I
read, the next verse tells us, and I give unto them eternal
life. you and I can never receive a
greater gift, can we, than eternal life? Yes, because then we are
eternally safe and we shall spend eternity in glory with the Lord
Jesus Christ and with the Father and with the Holy Spirit and
with the whole Church of God. It's a glorious prospect. It's a wonderful consideration.
It's good to meditate on these things and to have the evidence
that because God has spoken to us, we have, therefore, this
proof that God has given unto us eternal life. My friends, what a blessing.
It exceeds everything. in this earth, the gift of eternal
life. Well, this morning, may we be
able to, before God, examine ourselves and ponder our path,
whether it agrees with what we've said. You see, the greatest sinner
that ever lived, that's why We have great sinners referred to
in the Word of God like Manasseh and like Mary Magdalene and others,
but they were saved sinners. What happened? They heard the
voice of Jesus. And they had the evidence that
therefore they were one of Christ's children. They were part of the
family. They were part of the heavenly
flock. What a blessing that is. If you
and I have the evidence of it. And my friends, these are the
important things. You know, we get very concerned,
don't we, about many things in our life. The Lord Jesus spoke,
didn't he? And he said this, one thing is
needful. And he was referring to Mary,
who was sat at his feet to hear his voice. Martha was very concerned
that he didn't reprimand her and say, well, why doesn't Mary
come and help me in all that I'm doing? One thing is needful. Mary has chosen that good part
that shall not be taken away from her. Well may God bless
us for choosing that good part. And that means to follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. Follow that one who is described
as a despised and crucified man. Naturally nothing to attract
us. but spiritually a glorious attraction. To think that this man was so
willing to lay down his life, to lay down his life. I am the Good Shepherd, the Good
Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. To think that this
great Saviour, this great Shepherd of the sheep, has laid down His
life so that you and I might receive this great and wonderful
gift of eternal life. Nothing less would pay the price
which was upon our head to redeem our soul. Nothing less. It was the price of blood and
it was the perfect price paid by the Saviour who lived the
perfect life in order to redeem our souls well I hope this morning
you have to come and say what a Saviour that should have
looked upon me unworthy of any notice and yet
this great and glorious Shepherd of the Sheep He looked upon me. He spoke to me. And I have the
evidence today that this blessed Saviour is the Good Shepherd. He is my shepherd. He is my shepherd. He is the one who's found me. You know, Jacob said, He found
me in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He led me
about, He instructed me, kept me as the apple of His eye. What a blessing that such a great and glorious
Saviour who's dealt with us so wonderfully, so gloriously, for
his honour and for his glory and for his praise. Well, this
morning, I hope we can truly enter in to these words. It's a wonderful account. It's a wonderful truth. But how
wonderful if we know that Christ is our heavenly shepherd and
that he has given his life for me, that I might receive this
great and wonderful gift of eternal life. Well, says the Lord himself,
I am the good shepherd and know my sheep, he knows us, and am
known of mine, and we know him. Well, may it be so. And may we
go on and we're rejoicing. if we have the evidence that
we are a born again child of God. Amen.