Back over to John chapter 10. In Psalm 23. Man, how I love
Psalm 23. Over in Psalm 23, David said,
the Lord is my shepherd. Man, don't you love that? Don't
you love that? The Lord is my shepherd. What is a shepherd? Well, a shepherd is one who tends
to the flock, right? One who takes care of the flock,
one who pastures the flock, feeds the flock, one who leads the
flock, defends and protects the flock, right? But listen to this
glorious fact. The word shepherd means, along
with all those things, the word shepherd means to associate with
as a friend. That's what it means, to associate
with as a friend. David said, the Lord is the one,
who will associate with this sinner as a friend. Now that's precious. That's precious. The Lord is my shepherd. The shepherd is the true friend
of the sheep. He is the true, true friend of
the sheep. And then our Lord said over in
John 15, he said, greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends, his sheep. And he says
right here in John 10 verse 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. A man came to our Lord one time
and said, Good Master. And our Lord said, Why do you
call me good? There is none good but God. And right here he says, I am
the Good Shepherd. I'm the God Shepherd. It doesn't
get any better than that. The Chief Shepherd. The Great
Shepherd. Verse 10 says, John 10 verse
10, it says, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill
and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. Had Christ
not come, there would be no life, period. Had Christ not come,
there would be no He said, I am come for one reason only. That's
so that my friends, my sheep, might have life. That's the whole
reason. Spurgeon said, don't look to
yourself for this life. That's the mistake that every
soul makes, isn't it? That is the mistake that every
soul makes. Unbelievers, you know, religion,
that's the mistake. We believers forget, and that's
the mistake. That's the mistake every soul
makes. John Newton wrote, When I turn
my eyes within, all is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief
and sin. Can I deem myself a child? Spurgeon said, don't look to
yourself for this life. He said, don't look to the pasture
for this life. Eternal life is not in the things
of this world. It's not in anything that's in
this world. It is not in living right. It's just not. It's not in being here or being
there or doing this or doing that. It's not in anything that
your hands can touch in this world. He said, don't look to
yourself for this life. Don't look to the pasture for
this life. Look to the good shepherd. Look
to the good shepherd. He said, I am come. He said, I am come that they
might have life. and that they might have it more
abundantly. More abundantly. Now we do have
life. In Christ right now He's made
us alive. We do see. We do. I have seen it by God's grace.
He's opened my eyes and I've seen it. We do see. But the scripture
says it's through a glass darkly. The greatest revelation that
has ever been shown, I went to a historical home one
time and it had original glass in it, that really wavy glass. And you could see through that
glass, but it was not clear. And I could, I mean, I knew that
there were trees outside, so I knew there were trees and such
and so forth, but it was not clear. We do see. But right now, it's through a
glass darkly. We do have faith. By God's grace, without faith,
it's impossible to please Him. We do have faith. But the scripture
says, right now, it says, the grain of a mustard seed. Can
you imagine once we have all faith? We do know. We do. But the scripture says that we
know in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." It's
going to be done away. We do have life, but our good
shepherd said, I'm going to give it to them. I'm going to give
it to all of my sheep more abundantly. You think you see now? You just
wait. Just wait. You think you know now? You think
you know how good this shepherd is? He said, I am the good shepherd. Do you have any idea what he
meant by that? Neither do I. And I do kind of
see what he means. But he said, just wait. You're
going to see it more abundantly. You're going to believe me more
abundantly. You're going to live more abundantly. I'm going to
give them more life than they could ever need abundantly. Go with me over to Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel 34. Verse 12 says, As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep. and will deliver them out of
all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark
day. And I will bring them out from
the people and gather them from the countries and will bring
them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel,
by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
I will feed them in a good pasture. If only we could enter into what
he's talking about. I will feed them in a good pasture
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There
shall they lie in a good fold and in a fat pasture. They shall
feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. Is that not beautiful? Look at verse 25. And I will
make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil
beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and
the places round about my hill a blessing. And I will cause
the shower to come down in his season, there shall be showers
of blessing. And the tree of the field shall
yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and
they shall be safe in their land and shall know that I am the
Lord when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them
out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. Verse
30 says, Thus shall they know that I, the Lord their God, am
with them. And that they, even the house
of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye my flock,
the flock of my pasture, are men. And I am your God, saith
the Lord God. Man, that's a blessing. What a good shepherd. What a
good shepherd. I want to be in that flock. Man, I want to be in that flock.
Go back with me to John 10. John 10 verse 10 says, The thief
cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have
it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is in
hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the
wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth,
because he is in hireling, and careth not for the sheep. And
most of the commentators wanted to talk about the difference
between a God-sent preacher and a false preacher. And that's
fine. There's a big difference. There
is a big difference. But the context of this passage
is talking about Jesus Christ Himself. And God sent His preachers to
His people and He called them under-shepherds He did call them
under shepherds, but thanks be to God, they are not the shepherds. I can't tell you how happy that
makes me. No man has the ability to keep and to protect and to
feed God's sheep. I can't do it. You know, we're
so fed down there because we just like him. I can't do it.
It doesn't matter how much you like me. I cannot do it. The only man that can do it is
Christ himself, the Great Shepherd. Christ is the one who's leading
this congregation. I am not in charge. I am thrilled
to tell you that. Christ is the one who's feeding
this congregation. I need it just like you do. I'm
just a sheep. That's all. I thank God it's not me. It's
not me. Without Christ, we're all nothing. Without Christ, I am nothing
but a hireling. If Christ was not here, you'd
have a hireling on your hands. You don't belong to me. I haven't
fought for you. I didn't die for you. Jesus Christ
did. The great shepherd did. He fought
for you. He fought for me. He died for
you. He died for me. Thanks be to
God. Verse 14 says, I am the good
shepherd. He says that again. I am the
good shepherd. One of the meanings of this word
good is beautiful. Beautiful. I know that when he
walked this earth, he veiled his beauty. Isaiah said that
he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, when
God's servant comes to this earth, and when we see him as a man
on this earth, there is no beauty that we should desire him. But
that work is finished. That work is finished. And David
said, one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek
after. that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in his temple. I cannot wait for these
two eyes, Job said, I know with these two eyes I'm going to see
my God. I cannot wait for these two eyes to behold the beauty
of the Lord. I, probably more so than anybody,
love thinking about being in glory, worshiping Christ with
my brethren. I love my brethren. I love that
whole thought. But the truth of the matter is,
we're not going to be able to take our eyes off Christ. We're
going to talk to each other and say, yeah, that's wonderful,
but I just cannot quit looking at him. Most beautiful thing
I know. The beautiful shepherd. Verse
14 says, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep. He doesn't just know them. He knows each one of them. He knows each one of them. He
doesn't just know who they are. He knows them. He knows them. He knows their friends. While I was writing this out,
studying this, I had known that Robin and Kelly were coming.
And I thought about the fact that Kelly has a bunch of horses,
trains a bunch of horses. Do you have any idea which ones
are mean and which ones are calm and which ones are? He knows his sheep. He knows his sheep. He knows
this one right here slipped. This one has a sprained leg.
We're going to help this one up the hill. He knows this one
over here, he got caught in the thorns in his side. Don't touch
him right there. He needs some time. He knows this little guy, he's
been depressed. He's just sad. He knows this one has cancer. Pull this one close. Don't you know that a shepherd
would know every bit of that about his sheep? Don't you know? Whatever it is that you are going
through, I'm telling you the truth. He knows. He knows. He knows. He said, I know my
sheep. Verse 3 right here in John 10
says, To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice,
and he calleth his own sheep by name. By name. Verse 14 says, I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. The sheep
don't just know who their shepherd is. We following somebody? Yeah, it's that guy. They don't
just know who he is. They know him. They know him. They follow their shepherd because
they love him. I pulled up on YouTube some shepherd
currently in another country with their sheep and those sheep
were just so happy. They follow him because they
love him. They don't just know who he is,
they love who he is. He's the one who feeds us. When they have a good and kind
and tender and loving shepherd, they are happy sheep. They're
happy. They're so happy. Happy is he
that hath the God of Jacob for his help. If a sinner is called the friend
of God, man, if God be for us, who can be against us? They know that they love their
shepherd and they know that they are loved by their shepherd.
They know they are. They know they are. Verse 15
says, As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and
I lay down my life for the sheep. Have you ever heard of any shepherd
in history doing that? You ever heard of that at all? Is any sheep on planet earth
worth the shepherd giving his life for him? any sheep worth
a sinful shepherd much less God himself? What a shepherd we have! What a shepherd we have! The
Great Shepherd! None greater! What amazing news to find out
you got the best shepherd that has ever been! Verse 16 says, and other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Our good shepherd is not partial. He's not partial. There are no
favorites in his fold. He is just as loving to the last
one that came in as he is to the first one that came in. Spurgeon said, while his eye
was on the Jews, his heart was on the Gentiles too. That is true. I'm telling you
that's the truth. That is the truth. Can you fathom
the thought that back then as he was going through his travels,
those quiet times when he was thinking and praying, he was
thinking about us. He was thinking about us. He
said, other sheep I have and I must bring them in. He's going to bring in many more,
hopefully. Many more. Hopefully we're going
to learn about many more in the near future. There are sheep
in Kingsport, Tennessee. I believe that with all my heart.
There are sheep in Kingsport, Tennessee that he must bring
in. That's why we're here. That's
what he's talking about. I must bring them in. He's going
to bring them in. Well, the sheep of this good
shepherd, they love him. They need him. They follow him. They want to be near him. They
want to sit there with his arm around their woolly coat. That's
what they want. That is what I want. Lord, draw
me near to you. Nearer, my God, to thee. And
they say, good shepherd, Lord and master, we don't want you
to ever leave us. Don't ever leave us. Please don't
ever leave us alone. Lord, we don't want to ever be
without you. And the good shepherd comforts
his sheep by lovingly telling them, look at verse 17. Therefore doth my father love
me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. This
is why my father loves me. It's because I lay down my life
that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
And I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
in my Father." The sweet words of sovereignty. Sovereignty. The comfort of God's
sovereignty. The comfort of His authority.
The comfort of His power. Lord, don't leave me. I will
never leave you. I will never forsake you. I have
the power to lay down my life. I have the power to take it again.
No man can take me from you. No man. No man can touch me. You will be mine forever. I will
be yours forever. You know what the sheep say?
Would you mind telling me that again? Tell me, that's what we
say, isn't it? Well, are we going to come on
Sunday night because Gabe's got a brand new message? No. Everybody
wants to know, would you mind just telling me that again? All
right, I pray the Lord will bless his word. Let's stand together.