Well, good morning. Turn with
me to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. Well, it's a
blessing for us to be here. And really, as I just heard that
song sung, I was reminded how rare it is that we can gather
together with a group of people where Christ is exalted in everything. And that's the reason you're
here today, that's the reason I'm here today, that's the reason
Gary ministers to you, and that's the reason we're called to the
field there in Papua New Guinea. It's to exalt Christ and see
His name glorified. You know, so many times we get
distracted by all the details of what is involved in a gospel
ministry, but ultimately It's that Christ be exalted, isn't
it? That was God's purpose. That was God's purpose for His
Son. That all things be found in Him. And that He have the
preeminence. And that's what we desire. And
it's a blessing for me to just hear that song doing exactly
that. And to hear these words of Gary
again reminding us of what it is that we're concerned with
and what we're interested in. And what a privilege it is for
me. It's something that I never get
over. That God would call someone like
me into this glorious work of the Gospel. And call me and send
me to the work there in Papua New Guinea along with my wife
Robin. Well, this morning I'd like to speak to you about this
most excellent of beings, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's pictured
to us in so many ways. And here, as you know, there's
a chapter I'm sure every one of you is familiar with that
speaks to us about Christ in a particular picture that he
gives to us. And, you know, I had prepared
a... was working on preparing a different message for you.
But, you know, after we came down here and visited a little
Gary and Betty, this is a message I preached recently, and I just
felt that the Lord would have me bring this message to you,
and I trust that it will be used of Him, that the Lord will honor
it and bless it. It's His Word, and it speaks
of Him. And, you know, when I preach
today, there's so much here that I prepared. whole lot more than
I could get through. And that may be the case today,
but I'd like to try and put aside as much of myself as I can, preach
the gospel to you as I find it here, and maybe we'll get farther
than I did last time. It's so rich. It's so rich, this
chapter. But let me just begin by reading
there in verse, let's begin in verse 10. Jesus is speaking to his disciples
and he says the thief does not come except to steal and to kill
and destroy. And here we begin, I have come
that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. But he who is a hireling and
not the shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf
coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the
sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he
is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known by my own. As the
father knows me, even so I know the father, and I lay down my
life for the sheep, 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. Therefore my father loves me
because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes
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 command I have
received from my father. Therefore, there was a division
again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of
them said, he has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to
him? Others said, these are not the words of one who has a demon.
Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? Now it was the feast
of the dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus
walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded
him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt if you
are the Christ Tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you
and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name.
They bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you
are not of my sheep. As I said to you, my sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them
eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone
snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them
to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them
out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. Now. What we find here is one of the
most beautiful pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we find
in the scriptures. It's this picture of the shepherd
and his sheep. And it's such a simple analogy.
It's so simple anyone can understand it, even a child. But these words
of our Lord Jesus in reference to himself, are like His person,
like Himself. They're so rich. They're so full. They're full of grace and full
of truth. He says here, I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Good Shepherd. Think
of Psalm 23. I don't think it would be wrong
to say that every believer comes to know and cherish the words
of the Psalm that we find there in Psalm 23. They're words which
spring from the heart of every believer, every believer from
the beginning of his life, the beginning of his spiritual life,
until he passes through that valley of the shadow of death.
If we could have, have you thought of this, if you could have one
truth about our great Redeemer and Savior, what would it be?
There's so many glorious truths, aren't there? How hard it would
be to decide every truth about Christ is so good, so great,
so glorious. You know, we think of, well,
we just read so many truths there in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians. And what truths bless our hearts
as we read that God, of God, He's made unto us wisdom from
God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. And one of my
favorites, I think, of Hebrews, in that first chapter where it's
speaking of the Son, the Son through whom God speaks to, and
we read there that He's the brightness of His glory, and the express
image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His
power, who by himself purged our sins and sat down at the
right hand of the majesty on high. Now that's a truth, isn't
it? That's a truth. Here we have before us another
truth about this glorious person. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. I shall not want. Now that's
a truth. That's a truth. In a way, it's all that we need
to know, isn't it? Because it tells us something
about ourselves. We lack. We lack. We lack everything. But the Lord is my shepherd.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Well, what do we lack? What do we lack? Well, what are
we in want of? Well, think of this. You know,
we have all of these domesticated animals and we hear of wild goats,
you know, they can go feral. We hear of these wild goats,
we hear of wild cattle, wild horses, wild cats, wild dogs. But have you ever heard of a
feral sheep? Why? Why haven't we ever heard
of a feral sheep? Because a feral sheep is a perishing
sheep, isn't it? It's a perishing sheep. Every
domesticated animal can fend for itself, but not sheep. Sheep are unable to find their
own food, unable to find their own water, unable to find shelter
for themselves in the time of storm, they're unable to defend
themselves from their enemies, unable to find their way home
even. You know, we read these touching
stories of some animal, some pet, a dog that's left maybe
hundreds of miles from home and how it finds its way eventually
home and how touched we are. Do sheep ever do that? They never
do. Unable to even find their way
home. Sheep are weak, stupid, incapable,
and defenseless. Now, who does that sound like?
You and me. You and me. Why? Because the
Lord created sheep to be a picture of His people, didn't He? That's
exactly why sheep are this way. Beloved, like sheep, you and
I are in want. We are. We're in want. We're
in want of righteousness. We're in want of holiness. We're
in want of truth. We're in want of goodness. We're
in want of knowledge. We're in want of hope. We're
in want of an incorruptible body. I think a lot of us here are
beginning to realize that, aren't we? We're even in want of an
incorruptible body. We're in want of peace. We're
in want of joy. We lack all things. All things. But listen. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. That's all we need to know. The
Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd and I
lack nothing. It's true. It's true. I am full,
perfect, complete in Him. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. You know, in Romans 5, we read
about this entrance of sin into the world and all the awful consequences
of that. Sin, we're told, abounded. And it still does, doesn't it?
Sin abounds! But what are we told? We're sin
abounded. Grace abounded so much more. Grace super abounded. I shall not want. Why? Because everything that you and
I are in need of is His sheep. He supplies. He supplies. And He supplies abundantly. Abundantly. Turn over to Ezekiel
chapter 34 for a moment. But keep your place here in John
10, because we'll return here again and again. Ezekiel chapter
34. Now what is it, let me ask again,
what is it that we're in need of? It's the Lord's sheep. Nothing. Nothing. It's so hard for you
and I to believe that, isn't it? But this isn't only in the
spiritual realm, this too is in the temporal realm. You know,
there are many times we are in difficult circumstances, filled
with turmoil and uncertainty. Sometimes we're in extreme circumstances
of grief and suffering because we've lost a loved one, maybe
a spouse or a child even. At times there's fear and pain. You know, so many people suffering
illnesses which leave them in such difficult circumstances. Things that often we can't fully
relate to. But you know, in all of that,
in all of that, this truth stands firm. It stands secure. I shall not want. In all circumstances of life.
At all times. This is true. The Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. You know, in
New Guinea we work among two different tribes in the Minyamia
area. And often I hear, as a believer,
comes to this point in life where they're about to die. And it's
not often, but at the same time it's not uncommon when they tell
me of the last moments of this believer that they have great
joy and great peace. And just consider this. See,
this is a tribal area. There's no healthcare to speak of that we're
so used to. These people die in their huts
in a mountain village, often just laying on a mat on the ground
beside the fire, often in extreme pain, without all the medications
that we have. They're in a time of real need,
aren't they? And yet, we hear these testimonies
that they die with real peace and real joy in the midst of
that and often will say, as they die, I see Jesus. You know? And I'm a skeptical person by
nature. And at first, you know, I thought,
well, you know, is this just a story? But as time went on,
and ones too that I have known personally for many, many years,
confident that they are the Lords, have given this testimony. As I said, not often, but then
again, it's not uncommon either. And why is that? You know, I
thought, why is that? Because we don't seem to hear
that here in the US. And I thought, well I think it's
because these people, the Lord comes and he meets with them
in this time of dire need in a sense. As they pass through
that valley of the shadow of death. And what does that psalm
say to us too? It says, I will fear no evil. For what reason? For thou art
with me. For thou art with me. And I think
that's what the Lord is doing. He's coming and He's comforting
these people, particularly at that time, in their time of need.
Well, you remember that the Lord began His ministry when He entered
into the synagogue and He was handed the book. You remember
that? He was handed the book of Isaiah. And he opened the
book, and he found the place in which it was written, the
Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. And then he closed the book,
he gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And we read there
that the eyes of all the people were upon him, and he began to
say, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Well,
the same can be said here also, in John 10, where he says, I
am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. This
is what he tells us. It's as if he opened the book, and there
in Ezekiel 34, look down there to verse 11. It's as if he opened
the book and began to read, for thus says the Lord God. Indeed,
I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out as a shepherd
seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep.
So will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places
where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And that's us, isn't it? Scattered
on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from
the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring
them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains
of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of
the country. I will feed them in good pasture,
and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There
they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pastures
on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will
make them lie down, says the Lord God. Now skip down there
to verse 23. I will establish one shepherd
over them and he shall feed them. My servant David, he shall feed
them and be their shepherd." And it's as if when he had finished
reading, he sat down and said, today this scripture is fulfilled
in your hearing, I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. He alone has all the knowledge,
all the wisdom, all the strength, all the authority, all the righteousness,
All the holiness, all the characteristics and qualifications necessary
to be the Good Shepherd. Turn back to John 10. This is what Jesus is telling
His disciples there, when He says, I am the Good Shepherd.
I am the Good Shepherd. He's the Shepherd. Well, what
does that tell us? It tells us that this person
sustains a particular relationship to a peculiar group of people.
That's what a shepherd is, isn't it? He's the shepherd of the
sheep. He's not a shepherd of the goats.
He's not a shepherd of the whole world. He's the shepherd of the
sheep. And not only that, he's the shepherd. He's not a shepherd, he's the
shepherd. You see, the Lord in his mercy appoints men to shepherd
his flock, doesn't he? Yes, he does. But there's only
one true shepherd. He's the shepherd. He's distinct
too from all other shepherds because he's the good shepherd.
There is no other. He alone has all the characteristics
and qualifications necessary to be called the good shepherd. No mere man. can ever be called
the Good Shepherd. Well, here in this passage, Jesus
Himself tells us, well, many things about Himself as the Good
Shepherd. And we'll just look at a few
of them in God's grace this morning. But look there in verse 11. Verse
11. He says, I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. Now that alone
is sufficient to make him the good shepherd, isn't it? He gives
his life for his sheep. He secures every good thing at
the greatest cost to himself. The picture Jesus gives us of
himself is this picture of this shepherd and his sheep. And what
he holds up before his disciples and holds up before us is this
shepherd and the flock of his pasture, and they're attacked.
There's these wolves, there's these enemies, and they're the
flock of his pasture, and they're attacked by these ferocious wolves. And the sheep are about to be
torn asunder and devoured by these enemies. The sheep are
about to be destroyed. Well, what does the shepherd
do? What does the good shepherd do? The good shepherd, he rushes
in and he fights for his sheep, doesn't he? He fights for his
sheep and enters into mortal combat to save his sheep from
destruction. He fights for his sheep with
strength and with courage. What is he speaking about? He's
speaking about this mortal battle in which he entered as the shepherd. He enters into battle with the
devil, for the sheep have subjected themselves to bondage. We read
there in Hebrews chapter 2, inasmuch then as the children have partaken
of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same,
that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death,
that is the devil, and release Those who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage. He enters into battle
with the devil. Well, he enters into battle with
the curse of the law. Why is that? Because his sheep,
in their sin, in our sin, have subjected themselves to the curse
of the law. And so he enters into battle,
and we read in Galatians chapter 3 that Christ has redeemed us
from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For us. Well, he too is a shepherd, the
good shepherd, enters into battle against sin and death itself. For this is the wages of sin,
isn't it? This is the wages that are due to us as his sheep. And in that great chapter of
Isaiah 53, which speaks of Christ going to the cross for his sheep,
we read, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone
to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. He was wounded. Here he is, the
shepherd, entering into battle wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace
was upon him. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep, and the shepherd we see portrayed so clearly before
us there is stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. And the
shepherd falls, bloodied, bruised and wounded. And it would seem,
it would seem that all is lost for the sheep, wouldn't it? You
know, naturally speaking, when Christ died upon the cross, surely
His enemies exulted, didn't they? They thought they'd had the victory.
They had the victory. And it would seem that the sheep
are doomed to eternity of misery and death. But He's the Good
Shepherd. He's the Good Shepherd. In His
death is victory. Victory over sin. Victory over
the curse of the law. Victory over all the powers of
darkness. Victory over the ruler of this
world. Turn over to Hosea chapter 13.
Hosea chapter 13. And while you're doing that,
let me just bring to your mind what we read in Colossians chapter
2 about all that this shepherd accomplished for his people in
his death upon the cross. We read in Colossians chapter
2, and you being dead in your trespasses and sins. There we
were, dead in our trespasses and sins, in the uncircumcision
of your flesh, but he's made us alive together with him. having forgiven you all your
trespasses." Well, how is it that He could forgive us all
of our trespasses? Having wiped out the handwriting
of requirements that was against us, that was contrary to us.
There was that law. There was that handwriting of
requirements against us. And what did that law say to
you and I? Did it say good things to us?
No, no. That law says guilty, doesn't
it? Guilty. That's all the law says
to us. It doesn't say anything good.
Why? Because you and I are sinners. How can we be forgiven? He wiped
out that handwriting of requirements against us, didn't He? Having
fulfilled it for us. It was contrary to us. And He's
taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Now listen,
having disarmed principalities and powers, having made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Here's this
victory. Here's this victory in death.
The shepherd gives his life a ransom for his sheep, and we're told
that even death is swallowed up in victory. And this is what's
quoted there in Hosea. Look there in Hosea chapter 13
and verse 14. is what's quoted in 1 Corinthians
15, where it speaks of, O death, where is your sting? O Hades,
where is your victory? Now look what we read there.
He says, I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will
redeem them from death. O death, I will be your plagues. O grave, I will be your destruction. Pity is hidden from my eyes. You see, death cannot hold him.
He will not leave his sheep to be scattered. The good shepherd,
he lays down his life for his sheep. Yes, but what do we read
there in John 10? He lays down his life for his
sheep, but he has power to lay it down, and he has power to
take it again. He is the good shepherd. He is the good shepherd. When
it comes to any who would threaten his sheep, what do we read here
in Hosea? pity is hidden from my eyes."
It's as if he says, death, oh, oh, death, you come with your
sting of sin? You threaten the lives of my
sheep, do you? Oh, death, I will be your plagues. Oh, grave, I will be your destruction. The good shepherd rises in triumphant
victory. In Isaiah chapter 40, we read
of this. We read, Behold, the Lord your
God shall come with a strong hand and his arm shall rule for
him. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. He will feed his flocks like
a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his
arms and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those who are
with young. We'll turn back to John chapter
10 there. And we see too that the good
shepherd is the owner of the sheep. Look there in verse 12.
It says, but he who is a hireling and not the shepherd who does
not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and
flees and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. Now,
Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He's the owner of the sheep.
They're His flock. He tells us here, why is it that
the hireling flees? When these enemies come, when
the wolves come, why does the hireling flee? He flees because
they're not His sheep. He leaves the sheep and flees
the first sight of danger because they're not His sheep. He's not
the owner. But for the Good Shepherd, these
sheep are His reward. He's the owner of the sheep because
He's redeemed them with a ransom price, a great price. And they
belong to Him and no one else. The life that He gives for His
sheep is a life of infinite value, isn't it? In 1 Peter, writing to those
pilgrims who had been dispersed under this great persecution,
he says, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
Christ. And when he writes to the elders
there at Ephesus in Acts chapter 20, this is what he says. He
warns them. He exhorts them. He says, take
heed to yourselves. Why? because of what's been entrusted
to your care. He says, take heed to yourselves
and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers to shepherd the flock of God. And if that's not enough,
which he purchased with his own blood. This blood, this life
is of more value than the lives of all men and all angels. He is a man of absolute perfection,
possessed of all the finest characteristics, and only the finest characteristics,
in all their purity. He is a man who is God. He is
a man in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The blood shed was the blood
of God. The life, the blood, the lifeblood
shed to purchase his sheep was infinitely more valuable than
if the entire created universe had been given in sacrifice. Well, he's the good shepherd
too, that he would purchase such sheep as you and I. Who else
would care for and own sheep like you and I? He's the good
shepherd. You know, and Ezekiel 16, don't
turn there, but I'm sure it's a passage you're familiar with.
And it speaks, given another picture, that type of the Lord's
people. And he speaks of them as Jerusalem. And we read there, thus says
the Lord God to Jerusalem, your birth and your nativity are from
the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and
your mother a Hittite. Idolaters, adulterers, polluted
by all manner of sin and evil. Worshipping and serving the creature
rather than the creator. Your mother, your father was
an Amorite and your mother was a Hittite. And as for your nativity,
on the day that you were born, your navel cord was not cut,
nor were you washed in water to cleanse you. nor were you
rubbed with salt or wrapped in swaddling clothes, none of those
good things done in care and concern and compassion, treasuring
that child born, none of these things were done. No, no. No, I pitied you to do any of
these things for you, to have compassion upon you, but you
were thrown out, thrown out into the open field where you yourself
were loathed on the day that you were born, uncared for, polluted
in our own blood. What a picture of you and I.
Isn't that true? Hopeless and helpless, perishing. Who would own the likes of you
and me? Deserving no pity and no compassion,
loathed. Who would care? Well, the Good
Shepherd does. The Good Shepherd does. And you
know what we read there. And when I passed by you and
saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your
blood, live. Yes, I said to you in your blood,
live. Well, the Good Shepherd, he's the Good
Shepherd. He's the owner of the sheep.
And the Good Shepherd, too, cares for his sheep. Look there in
verse 13. Christ says another thing, he
says the hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not
care about the sheep. The Good Shepherd not only owns
the sheep, but he cares about the sheep. You see, Jesus says
that the hireling flees for two reasons. First, he flees because
he's not the owner of the sheep. But Christ says, and he makes
these two distinct points, he says also the hireling does not
care for the sheep. Now, why is that? Because a man
or a woman may own something and not care for it. Now, what
a tragedy. What a tragedy. But that's true.
You know, in New Guinea, it's not an uncommon practice if a
man and a woman have many children, if the woman becomes pregnant
and carries a child, that when that child is birthed, they'll
have purpose to take that child, and the woman usually carries
the child in a coffee garden or away from the village settlement,
and when the child's birthed, she scoops out the a shallow
grave and puts the child in it alive and throws some dirt over
it and walks away. They do that if they have many
children and they feel that there's just going to be another burden.
Well, here is this child. Well, it's their child, isn't
it? It's his child. They're the owner of the child.
But they don't care for the child, do they? No. No, they don't. This man doesn't care for what
is his. This woman, this mother, doesn't
care for what's hers. But not the good shepherd. No,
not the good shepherd. Not the good shepherd. The good
shepherd cares for his sheep. He loves his sheep. He pities
his sheep. He has compassion upon his sheep. He thinks about his sheep. He
wants to be with his sheep. You know, the wonder of God's
grace to us, isn't it? two Christians there in that
tribe who this occurred to. Now amazingly, at times, once
in a while, a relative who knows that A woman might do this when
she bears her child. It will wait and follow when
she goes into labor. And she'll watch to see if the
woman will do this. And once in a while, a relative,
it has to be a near relative, will rescue that child. And raise
that child then as their own. What mercy, what mercy, what
grace to hear them speak about the fact that their own mother...
You know, there's this one man, Naphtali, in this village of
Wardobong, who told me how the woman who had gone and rescued
him literally out of that grave dug the dirt out of his mouth
and brushed the soil off of his eyes. And he said, my own mother
didn't care for me. But this is his testimony. Christ knew him before he ever
was. And that's why he sent that woman
to save him. And in the Lord's perfect time
and appointed place, he came and he found that lost sheep,
didn't he? He found that lost sheep. And this, why? Because the Good
Shepherd cares for his sheep. He's not only the owner, but
he cares for his sheep. He desires the best things for
his sheep. And we have these pictures of
how He feeds His sheep and leads them to those still waters, restoring
their souls. Here Christ says He gives life,
abundant life, abundant life to His sheep. He blesses them
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. He supplies all their needs according
to His riches in glory. Now those are some riches, aren't
they? He cares for His sheep. He crowns them with loving kindness
and tender mercies. Well, look there in verse 14. And we see, fourthly, that the
Good Shepherd knows His sheep. He says, I am the Good Shepherd
and He repeats that. I am the Good Shepherd and I
know My sheep and am known by My own. Turn over to Psalm 139. Again, keep your place here in
John 10. In writing to Timothy, the Apostle
Paul says, the Lord knows them that are His. Well, the Lord
has always known His sheep, hasn't He? He always has. There's never
been a time when the Lord hasn't known His sheep. The Lord will
always know his sheep. Look there in verse 16 of Psalm
139, where David sings of these things. He says, Your eyes saw
my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were
written. The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none
of them. This is how intimately the shepherd
of the sheep knows his sheep. Before the days were ever formed.
He knows them. He knows them. He knows their
substance. And their days, they're all written.
They're all written. You know, the election of a particular
people by God to himself is is a truth that is a precious truth,
isn't it, to His sheep? It's a precious truth to all
who believe. And it's a truth that we'll never
get over the wonder of it, will we? We never will. Not even in
glory. Not even in glory. You know,
there's some things that will end, the Word tells us specifically,
that will end. But not the wonder of His grace
to people like you and me. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep. This is what Jesus is telling
us. He knows them intimately. He knows what's in them. He knows
their frame. He knows their heart. Remember
that heart-rending cry of Peter. You know how he denied his Savior. He denied his Lord in that time
of great trial. And Christ comes to him and he
asks him, Peter, do you love me? You know, three times. Three
times. And what did Peter finally say?
Lord, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. This
was the hope of Peter. He knew that his Good Shepherd
knew all things. He knew his heart. He knew his
heart because he'd put the love there, hadn't he? He knew all
his days when they were as yet unformed. Yes. The Good Shepherd
knows all our strengths, all our weaknesses, all our fears,
all our sorrows. He knows everything that happens
in our lives. You know, so often we're in dire
straits. And we think, nobody understands. Isn't that true? And in truth,
that's probably true. That's probably true. But not
with the Good Shepherd. No. No, not with the Good Shepherd. He knows all things. All things,
because He's ordered them perfectly for the good of His people. For
the good of His sheep. Look there in Psalm 139, beginning
in verse 1. He says, O Lord, You have searched
me and known me. You know my sitting down and
my rising up. You understand my thought afar
off. You comprehend my path and my
lying down. You are acquainted with all my
ways, for there is not a word on my tongue. But behold, O Lord,
You know it altogether. You know, I hardly even know
what the next words are going to be out of my mouth. But this
is how well the shepherd of the sheep knows his people. Before we ever think a thought,
he sees it afar off. Think of that. Nothing is out
of his control. Our lives might seem full of
turmoil and chaos and out of control and uncertain and we
might think, what is happening? and we're
cast down, and our hearts are disquieted. Well, He knows all
things, doesn't He? And He's bringing them about
perfectly, even all of the turmoil and distress and pain and suffering.
He's bringing it about all for the good of His sheep. Why? Because
He's the Good Shepherd. He cares for His sheep. He cares
for His sheep. And above all, He knows His sheep
as a particular people, the sheep of His pasture. That's how we're
described. And what He said of the Israelites
is supremely true of the true Israel, isn't it? He said of
Israel, you only have I known of all the families of the earth.
Well, how much more true that is of His sheep, isn't it? Who
is God interested in, in this world? He's interested in the
sheep of His pasture. That's what Jesus is telling
His disciples here. This is His concern. You know,
in this day, we're hearing all sorts of things being taught
out there. All sorts of lies. And one of
those is that God's purpose for the church is to restore this
earth. And to do all of these things which will make life so
much better. And that's why there's all sorts
of help ministries in churches, isn't there? Because this is
the idea. Because the thought is that the
church is here to restore the earth. But this isn't the interest
of the shepherd of the sheep, is it? The shepherd of the sheep
is interested in his sheep. That's all. That's all. That's
all he's interested in. The sheep of his pasture. Now,
this, I don't know if you've ever thought about this before,
this is one of the distinguishing marks of characteristics of his
sheep. He knows us. Have you thought
of that? See, that's something that distinguishes us, is His
sheep. He knows us. In the final day, when the righteous
judgment is rendered, what will He say? What will He say? What will He say to those who
are not His sheep? To those who are on the left
hand? He'll say, depart from me, I never knew you. I never knew you. But his sheep,
he does know, doesn't he? His sheep, he does know. Turn
back to John chapter 10. Well, not only does he know his
sheep, but what do we read there in verse 14? He says, I am the
good shepherd, I know my sheep, and am known by my own. Now, how is it that the sheep
know the shepherd? How is it that the sheep know
the shepherd? Look there in verse 26. It's
by faith, isn't it? Here, Christ is preaching this
glorious message to His disciples, and as usual, these wolves, as
it were, come in, and they're surrounding them, and they're
growling and snapping at their heels, and they say to Christ,
well, who are you? Who are you? Tell us who you
are. Why do you keep us in suspense?
And this is what Jesus says, verse 25, Jesus answered them,
I told you, and you do not believe the works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you do not believe, why? Because you are not of my sheep. Because you are not of my sheep. As I said to you, my sheep hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Why is it that
they don't believe? Because they're not his sheep.
It's that simple. It's that simple. This is what
it means that the sheep know Him. They believe because they
are His sheep. The love of God has been poured
out into their hearts by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit reveals
Christ to them. And when the Spirit reveals Christ
to the sheep, well, the sheep distinguish Him from all others.
And like the Apostle Paul, when the shepherd, the good shepherd
is revealed to them, they have this desire to know more of him,
don't they? More of his power. As the Apostle
Paul says there in Philippians, he has this great desire, this
burning desire to know more of Christ. The resurrection. The fellowship of his resurrection. How does he put it? It's the
power of his resurrection. The power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings. And like Paul, in their hearts
is Christ, Christ alone. On their lips is Christ, and
Christ alone. Like Paul, they say, yet indeed
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, for what reason
that I may gain Christ?" The sheep hear the voice of the Good
Shepherd. They know His voice. They hear
the voice of the Good Shepherd when He first calls them, when
He calls them out of darkness into His light. The sheep hear
His voice when He calls them from death to life. You think
of that The story when the widow is coming out with her dead son,
the widow of name, and he's being carried out to be buried, and
Jesus comes. And what does he do? He stops
them. And we read that he speaks to the dead body. And he says
to the young man, arise. And he who was dead sat up. Why? Because he heard his voice. And what a picture that is of
when the Good Shepherd comes. And He calls. He calls from death
to life. He calls out of darkness into
light. The sheep hear His voice. Well,
too, the sheep hear His voice amidst the voice of all the other
voices. You know, in this world there's
many voices, isn't there? There's many voices. The voices
of false teaching, the voices of philosophy and empty deceit. There's the voices everywhere
of the lust of the flesh. Here's the world calling, the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life. All of these voices
coming in. But the sheep hear the voice
of the shepherd, don't they? And they distinguish his voice
from all other voices. Well, the sheep too, they know
Him in His Word, and how important this is. They know Him in His
Word. They delight in hearing of Him
from the Scriptures. What a picture we have there
when Christ is walking with those two disciples on the road to
Emmaus, and He takes the Scriptures, and He opens them up, and He
preaches Christ to them, doesn't He? He reveals Himself in all
of these scriptures. And what do we read of those
two disciples? When they talked among themselves
later, what do they say? Our hearts burned within us. And isn't this true? As we hear
Christ preach from His Word, the sheep hear. The sheep hear
His voice. And their hearts burn within
them. Why? Because the Spirit opens
their understanding, opens the eyes of their understanding that
as Christ is preached, they see Him. They see His glories. Their eyes are enlightened and
they rejoice in the unsearchable riches of Christ. The sheep know
Him because He speaks to them in His Word. Well, the sheep hear His voice too
in His Word as He teaches. He teaches, He instructs, He
corrects, He rebukes, He comforts us too, doesn't He? All of these
things that we're in need of. In the perfect time and in the
perfect place. He encourages us. And how does
He do that? By revealing Himself to us in
His Word. This is how we know Him. And
the sheep hear His voice. He says, and they know His voice,
and they follow Him. The sheep know Him. They trust
Him. They believe all that He tells
them is good, and right, and true. And when this is so, what
do the sheep do? Well, they follow Him. They follow
Him, don't they? What else would they do? Well then, quickly look there
in verse 28. of John 10. The Good Shepherd preserves his
sheep. Jesus says, I give them eternal
life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them
out of my hand. My Father who has given them
to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them
out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Well,
the Good Shepherd gives eternal life to His sheep, and they shall
never perish. And He tells us, neither shall
anyone snatch them out of My hand. He not only gives this
eternal life, but He preserves this life. How important this
is. The Good Shepherd, He guards
His sheep, He protects His sheep. You know, the forces arrayed
against His sheep are great. They're numerous. He tells us
the thief does not come except to what? To steal and to kill
and to destroy. We're told that the devil prowls
about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's seeking
these sheep. And there's these great hosts
of fallen angels, polluted evil spirits who hate the sheep with
a vindictive and malevolent hatred And they do all they can to keep
the sheep in bondage to sin and to death and to the devil. But
the Good Shepherd, He protects His sheep from all of these things,
from all of these dangers. He tells us none shall snatch
them out of His hand. None. Not one. He delivers His
sheep from their sins. He redeems Israel from all her
iniquities. He delivers them from their enemies.
He delivers them from the power of darkness. He delivers them
from the wrath to come. The Good Shepherd guards His
sheep in such a way that none, none shall snatch them out of
His hand. But think of this. The sheep,
the sheep themselves are weak. and sinful and foolish. Who will
protect the sheep from themselves? Surely their faith will fail
in the day of little trial. Little trial, not great trial.
You think of Adam. Here he is, created of God we
might say, in a perfect environment. You remember what God said when
he had finished his creation and looked upon all that he had
made? He said, behold, it is very good. Well, here is Adam,
in this perfect environment. Here comes his enemy, and he's
tempted. Well, how did Adam fare against
this enemy? He fell in an instant, didn't
he? Fell in an instant. Do you realize that if the preservation
of your faith, if the preservation of your life was up to you, you
would fall in this instant. This instant. Eternal life would
be lost and you would perish. But you see, the Good Shepherd
makes certain this doesn't happen. They shall never perish. Why? Because everything that you and
I are in need of, the Good Shepherd supplies. Everything. He provides
Himself. He will protect us too, even
from ourselves, won't He? He'll keep us from falling. He's
our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption. He's everything that pertains
to life. He provides. He provides for
His sheep. You know, I think You don't need
to turn there, but remember in 1 Peter, again, where Peter's
writing to the pilgrim of the dispersion, and there they are
in a great trial of affliction. And this is the encouragement
that he gives to them. He speaks to them of what the
Father has done through His Son, and he says, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His
abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope. through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that
does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you. What glory
has been given to us! And what an inheritance that
awaits! But the thought comes in, am
I ever going to make it? How can I persevere? How can
I ever? Here is this inheritance, incorruptible
and undefiled, reserved in heaven. But surely I'll fall. But you
know the next words, don't you? Who are kept by what? The power
of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
day. The Lord, the Lord will keep
His people. He preserves us. We read there
too in Jude that He is able, we're not able, but He is able
to keep you from falling and to present you faultless. What grace to present you faultless
before the throne of grace with exceeding glory. Well, just look
there in verse 29, we'll close there. Verse 29. The father gives the sheep to
the good shepherd. Verse 29. My father who has given
them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch
them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. The
Good Shepherd is the one to whom the Father gives the sheep. See? That's what Jesus is saying.
This is a distinguishing mark of the Good Shepherd. The Father
gives the sheep to no one else. He gives them to the Good Shepherd. Is there anyone better than the
Father could give the sheep to? Is there anyone greater than
the Father could give the sheep to? Listen to what Jesus says
my father who has given them to me is greater than all and
What's the next statement? I and my father are one I and
my father are one the father Gives us his son You see in giving
us to the Good Shepherd the father gives us his son What a gift
What a gift! You know, when we give things,
we give seconds, don't we? Isn't that true? We do. We do. But in giving us to the
Good Shepherd, the Father gives us His very best. His very best. There is none better than the
Son. There is none greater than the Son. There is no one who
is more strong, more wise, more righteous, more loving, more
full of grace, more full of truth, no one more full of care, more
full of goodness, more full of compassion. Why? He alone, He alone is the Good
Shepherd. This is what we read in Psalm
23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me
to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still
waters. he restores my soul. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they
comfort me. You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Amen.