We want to look again at some
of the I am's that are found in the Bible about the Lord Jesus.
He used the term about himself, I am, and that means that he
is the self existent one. He's the one that has forever
been. He is the eternal son of God. There is none like him. And he
came to this world. and took upon himself the form
of a servant." He took upon himself the form of a man. For the promise
of the suffering of death. Now, when we started this study,
we were looking over there, we started over there in the book
of Genesis, or excuse me, Exodus, and we're gonna be over there
momentarily. But in the book of Exodus, we read about the
IM speaking to Moses out of the burning bush. A burning bush
would not be consumed. And I think that would probably
catch our eye too. If a bush was burning and it
never burnt down, we'd say, I think I'll go take a look at this.
Well, that's exactly what Moses did. And the one that spoke from
that burning bush was, I am that I am. Well, as we followed through
here, we found out about, as the scriptures declare, Jesus
said, I am the bread of life. And we know what bread is. I
enjoy. In fact, Nancy yesterday bought
a loaf of cinnamon bread. And you know, I couldn't stop
with one slice. I had to have two. It was so
good. And bread is an essential part
of most people's diet. And particularly during the times
of the Lord Jesus, it was an essential part. And he is just
saying, without me as your spiritual bread, you are dead. You don't have any hope. Then
we looked at, I am the light of the world. And the Lord Jesus
declared to us, as it's found in the scriptures, that he is
the light. And it is through him that we
are privileged to see God. We're privileged to see his word
open. And then we went to, I am the door. And a door is an entrance
in, like that one back here, but it is also a protection from,
like that one over there. You can go out of it, but you
can't come in that way. So doors have some purposes, and two of
them are quite plain. One is the way we enter in, and
the other is I have protection with my door. So I am the door. That's what he said to his disciples.
And he is the only entrance in, and he is the only protection
that is complete. Well, today we'd like to look
at the subject, and we sang one of the songs today. It was number
three. And these words are found here
in this song. It says, like a shepherd, Jesus
will guard his children. In his arms he carries them all
day long. Three phrases in there are direct
quotes out of the Old Testament. He does carry his sheep. And
then the very next hymn, hymn number four in here says, Savior
like a shepherd lead us, much we need thy tender care. So some
authors got a hold of some words that the Lord Jesus Christ used,
and he shares with us that he is the good shepherd. Now this
is found in the book of John. John chapter 10, we read these
words. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door of the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way is the same as a thief and a robber. So what
he's saying, if you don't come through me as the door, you're
nothing more than a thief or a robber. He is the door. He said, I am the door. He's
the only door. Now there may, as we mentioned
last week or last time we were here, there may be a lot of painted
doors on the wall of our building, but they're not doors you can
go through. They're just semblances of doors. People painted them.
All right. So I am the good shepherd. He goes on to say, he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out." Now, he's using an illustration
that they knew about very well. There was a lot of shepherds
in this day and time. And they had a lot of different
way of herding sheep than we do today. I've read about big
bands of sheep, and most of the work is done by a shepherd, a
shepherd dog, the guy that is running them or taking care of
them. He rides a horse or rides in a buggy, but the dogs are
taking care of it most of the time. Well, we find in the Bible
that the shepherd took care of it. And we will read in the scriptures
that the shepherds of old led their sheep. They didn't drive
their sheep, they led their sheep. That's what a good shepherd does.
He leads his sheep. And that's what he said about
himself. When he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before
them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Now
there's some interesting things about the shepherd leading the
sheep. Number one, he's taking them
where he wants to take them. Number two, he is seeing the
problem or he is seeing the enemy or he is seeing trouble before
the sheep are able to see it. And as we think about that, the
shepherd that is leading the sheep is taking care of a lot
of the problems that the sheep don't even have to be involved
in. And the Good Shepherd tells us, I am the Good Shepherd, I
lay down my life for the sheep. So this Good Shepherd is so good
about what he does that he said, I will, and he did lay down his
life for the sheep. Now the sheep he's talking about
are not these sheep, they're talking about people. He's talking
about save people. He's talking about his church.
And here we have him as the good shepherd. He's the savior of
his people. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. Now that's the words of the Lord
Jesus here in John chapter 10. He will, he did, and he ever
will lay down his life for the sheep. He's the one that went
to the cross and paid all the sin debt of all of his sheep. Now, as we travel through here,
we find, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the
sheep. We read that last time we was here. All that ever came
before me were thieves and robbers. Verse nine, I am the door. And
there in verse, Verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. Now that's the qualification
mark between a good shepherd and someone who can't do anything.
He gave his life for the sheep. And he's the only one that can
give his life for the sheep. He's the only one that can pay
the sin debt of his sheep. And when he went to the cross,
he did exactly that. He paid the sin debt of all his
sheep. And then he goes on to tell us
here in this passage of scripture in the book of John, Verse 14,
I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. That's an interesting thing.
I think as we go back in history, we find out that the shepherds
were a lot more personal with their sheep. And most of the
time they knew all their sheep. They knew their names, they had
them named. and they led their sheep out into the desert there
to eat. They wandered with them, they
took care of them. They could notice if their sheep
was having a trouble and they could protect their sheep from
the enemy. Well, there are a number of people
in the Old Testament that were wonderful shepherds. I wanna
go over to the book of Genesis for just a moment, excuse me,
Exodus. The book of Exodus chapter three,
And when we started our study on the IMs, we were here in the
book of Exodus, but Moses, it says he kept the flock of Jethro,
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock
to the backside of the desert. One more time, he's illustrating
that point, that the good shepherd leads his sheep. He will never
ask them to do anything that he has not done. He protects
his sheep. He watches over his sheep. He
can tell his sheep whether there's a disease among them or trouble
among them. And he can protect them from
the wolf. He can protect them from the bear. He can protect
them from any enemy that might come along. Now, as it tells
us with regard to Moses, he led the flock to the backside of
the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. Now there
is another wonderful illustration in the Bible about another shepherd. His name is David. And that's
found in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 17. In the book of 1
Samuel chapter 17, we read this about David. He was a mighty
shepherd, and he cared about his father's sheep, just as we
find the Lord Jesus cares about his father's sheep, his father's
people, and he laid down his life for them. Here in the book
of 1 Samuel, chapter 17, verse 33, the Bible has this left for
us to read and enjoy. Now, there was the Philistines
over on one side of the valley, and there was Israel over on
the other side of the valley. And Israel was afraid to cross
the valley and go over there because they had a tall man by
the name of Goliath, nine feet tall. Now people say, there's
nobody could be nine feet. There has been people nine feet.
Last in the 20th century, there were people nine feet tall. Now
he didn't live to be very long, very old, but he was nine foot
tall and had great big feet. People could grow that way. And
especially when God intended for someone to grow that way,
that looks like a great enemy of Israel. And it tells us here,
David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep. Well,
verse 33 first. Saul said, thou are not able
to go against the Philistine to fight with him, for thou art
but a youth. You're just young and the man
of war from his youth. So we've got Goliath over here.
We have David over here. And Saul says, you can't win
against him. And David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's
sheep. Now that's an interesting statement.
You know, a good shepherd never lost one of his sheep. A good
shepherd knew all of his sheep. He never lost a sheep. And if
one strayed, he knew that it was strayed. And he knew that
he could go find it. We find that illustration. The
Lord said that if you lose, have a 99 sheep and one is lost, you
don't sit there, you put these in the pen and you go after that
sheep. And we find he went into the
hills and way up in the mountains and there he found his sheep.
And he put that sheep on his shoulders and carried it back
and rejoiced that he had found his lost sheep. That's the message
that the Lord said about his people, finding his lost people.
Well, David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep.
These are my father's sheep, but I have kept them. I have
watched over them. I have, I've been a shepherd
for them. And there came a lion and a bear.
Now I don't know about you, but if I was out watching some sheep
and a lion and bear came around, I'd probably find the car. David
said here, and took a lamb out of the flock. Now this lion and
bear took a lamb out of the flock. Now to a lot of people, well,
that's insignificant. To a good shepherd, it's very,
very necessary to get that lamb back. I know my sheep. I know
the number of my sheep. I know that I will lay down my
life for the sheep. I shall lose none of my sheep. And so David
is bringing this out. And I went after him and smote
him and delivered him it out of his mouth. And when he arose
against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew
him. So what a statement about David as he dealt with his father's
sheep. And there was a lamb that this,
Enemy came and snatched up, ready to take lunch. And he went after
it and delivered that lamb from that mouth of that barren lion
and delivered it. That's what a shepherd does.
That's the good shepherd. That's a shepherd that takes
care of business. Now there's another shepherd
in the Old Testament. I really liked this shepherd.
His name is Amos. Amos. In the book of Amos, There
is these words about this man, Amos. Now, there is a book called
Amos in the Bible, and he was a prophet. God called him as
a prophet, but he wanted people to know this. I did not call
myself to be a prophet. I did not call myself to preach.
I did not go to school to become a preacher. I was doing this. In the book of Amos chapter seven,
verse 14, Then answered Amos and said unto Amaziah, I was
no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman. That was my job. I was a herdsman. And you know what? I believe
Amos was a good herdsman. I believe he cared for his herd.
Now it might've been sheep, it might've been cattle, or it might've
been both, but he was a herdsman that took care of his sheep. He took care of his herd. And
then, it tells us there in that verse of scripture, it says that
he was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. Now, he did
not seek being a preacher. He did not seek being a prophet. But God took him from a herdsman
and a gatherer of sycamore fruit and made him that, and we have
the book of Amos as a result of it. So he was a herdsman. David cared about his sheep so
much that he would go into battle for them. And Moses, he led his
sheep out in the backside of the desert. And so we find out
much in those three people about what a shepherd is. Jesus said,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep, and no man can take it from me, but I lay
it down of myself that I might take it up again." And that's
exactly what he did. No man took his life from him.
We can say, oh, the Romans did. No, by permission they did. Well,
the Jews did. No, by permission they did. God
gave them permission, God in Christ gave them permission to
do exactly what he intended to have done and by this his death
on the cross paid for the sins of all his sheep. In the book
of Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah chapter 40, I want to read one
verse of scripture over there in Isaiah chapter 40. And it
shares this about a shepherd, a good shepherd. Chapter 40 of
the book of Isaiah, and there in verse 11, the scriptures share
this. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. We read in the, the Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. It doesn't say that he makes
us lie down in dry grass. He makes us lie down in green
pastures. He has the best food for he's
the bread of life. Too loud? Oh. He is the shepherd, the best
shepherd. And here it says, 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 those
that are with young. What a blessing. We find out
how he carries his flock. We'll be there in just a moment,
Connie, just a moment. A couple more verses here. And
in the book of Hebrews, It tells us this about the Lord Jesus
in the book of Hebrews chapter 13, as we consider him the good
shepherd. I am the good shepherd, the good
shepherd, give of his life for the sheep. What a statement he
makes there. And he's not a mockery. He will
give his life for the sheep. Hebrews chapter 13, and there
in verse 20, Hebrews chapter 13 in verse 20, Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. So
he says, he is the great shepherd. Not only is he a good shepherd,
he's the great shepherd. And another verse says he's the
chief shepherd. So the Lord is my shepherd, I
shall not want. The Lord is the shepherd that
laid down his life for his sheep. The Lord is the shepherd that
won against every enemy and defeated them completely and took back
every lamb that they had under their influence. So as we close
today, may we remember Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep.