Turn back to John chapter 10. I titled the message, The Good
Shepherd Giveth His Life for the Sheep. He gives His life
for someone, a multitude of someones. He gives it for the sheep. in verse 10. The thief cometh not but for to steal,
to kill, and to destroy. There is nothing more despicable
than a thief. Someone who breaks into your
home and takes away that which does not belong to They slip
in and they slip out. And their purpose for being there
is to steal, kill, and destroy. And you know who he's talking
about here? He's talking about the Pharisees. The Pharisees
of that day, he's calling them thieves. They were the most righteous,
self-righteous, law-abiding citizens in town, and the Lord is calling
them And he says, your one purpose is to do nothing but steal, kill,
and destroy. That's what religion without
Christ will do for you. It will destroy you. Destroy
you. I have never met a good thief. I've never, never met a good
thief. They are always ready to take
what is not theirs, to kill anything that is good, and destroy anything
that stands in their way of gain. And that's what religion is without
Christ. That's what it is. Good description
of it. Thief. But Christ says, I am
come that they might have life, that the sheep those whom the
Father has given me, that ye might have life." And he's talking
about eternal life. You might have life and that
you might have it, listen, more abundantly, fully. That you might have it completely
and know it and all the blessings that go with it. The good shepherd
seeks nothing from the sheep. He seeks nothing from the sheep.
He's not after what we have. He's after us. He's after the
sheep, not what the sheep have. He's after the sheep. And listen,
the Good Shepherd does everything for the sheep. Everything our
Lord has done, doing, and shall do is for the sheep. Now that's a good shepherd. That's
a good shepherd. Everything that our shepherd
does for the sheep is for their good. It may not feel good, but
it's for their good. It's for our good. It doesn't
always feel good. Feel good has nothing to do with
it. But it's always for our good. He is the one who gives us life. He said, I come that they might
have life. And he's not speaking about this
earthly life. We have this. He's talking about
eternal life. He's talking about that you might
have the life of God in the soul. That you might be made one with
God again. That we might know Him. To know
God. Eternal life is to what? To know
God. and Jesus Christ whom he has
sent. He says, I've come that they
may have life. He's one who gives us life. And
he gives it to us, listen, abundantly. We are not barely saved. We are abundantly saved. I mean
abundantly. And here's what he's saying.
I have given them all spiritual blessings that they need. everything
I need to stand before God, everything I need to lead this life and
be accepted in His presence. Now listen, I and you, we who
believe, have it abundantly. We don't barely have it. We have it abundantly. We're
going to be shocked. I mean, I don't know what that
day will be like. We'd be shocked how abundantly we have all these
things someday. But you might have it more abundantly. And he says, I am the good shepherd. I'm the good shepherd. He was
chosen of God to be the shepherd. And he was sent of God to be
the good shepherd. Now listen. He says, I am the
good shepherd. There was a young man one day,
came by our Lord. And he said, good master. And
he said, why callest thou me good? There is none good but
God. So what's he saying? The good
shepherd is God. The one who created the universe,
the one who created the angels, the one who created humanity,
the one who created all things is our shepherd. He's the good
shepherd. I am, he told Moses, I am that
I am, and I am the good shepherd. That's who I am. He is the good
shepherd because he's God. God Almighty is our shepherd. And he's not too high to be called
by that name, shepherd. He's our shepherd. He leads us.
He guides us. He feeds us. He takes care of
us. Even when we don't acknowledge
it, recognize it, He does it. You know, for the most part,
sheep are dumb. They don't recognize a whole lot of what the Shepherd
does. There's a lot of things we don't
recognize that God does for us daily, minute
by minute, minute by minute. taking care of the sheep, taking
care of the flock. If you and I had any real concept
of how much God watches over us, we would never worry. I'm telling you, we would not
fret at all if we knew how we were the apple of his eye and
how he watched over us and he's omnipresent at all times. The good shepherd never leaves
his sheep. He never leaves his sheep. Listen to what it says
here. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He giveth his life. He gives us life, but in order
for him to give us life, he had to give his life as a sacrifice
for our sins. He had to give himself up. He
giveth his life for the sheep. His life was not taken. It was
given. And it was given for the sheep,
for a particular people, a multitude that no man can number. He purchased them. They're his. He says, I've given my life for
them. He was not a martyr. He's a sacrifice. I giveth my
life for the sheep. Not for the goats, but for the
sheep. Look over in verse 26 of this
same chapter. Look at verse 25. Jesus said
to them, I told you, and you believe not the works that I
do in my Father's name. They bear witness of me, but
you believe not because you're not my sheep. As I said to you,
my sheep hear my voice, 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. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand, and out of my Father or one."
Now, you're talking about security. Brethren, that's security. No
man can pluck them out of my hand or out of my father's hand.
No, not at all. He gave his life, he said, for
the sheep. He gave himself as our substitute. He gave his life that he might
give us life. We were not born with spiritual
life. We were born with just actual life, but not spiritual
life. Every last one of us were born
dead in sin, and trespasses. Born in it. Dead. Spiritually dead. That's the
way we were born. And if we have life, He's the
one. The Good Shepherd is the one
who has given us life. He's the only one who's given
it to us. The Good Shepherd kept back nothing
that was profitable for His sheep. Absolutely nothing. But he that
the hireling, and not the shepherd, not the
owner of the sheep, whose own the sheep are not, they don't
belong to the hireling. There are a lot of people in
the ministry for what they can get out of it. That's what they're
in it for, what they can get out of it. They don't love the
sheep. They're in it for profit. Turn over to Ezekiel 34. Listen to this. And the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds
of Israel. prophesied saying to them, Thus
saith the Lord God unto the shepherds, Woe be to you, woe be to the
shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves, should not the shepherds
feed the flocks? You eat the fat, and you clothe
you with the wool, and you shear the sheep, and you clothe yourself
with their wool. You kill them that are fed, but
you feed not the flock. The disease have you not strengthened?
No, they didn't want anything to do with a diseased person.
Unclean person? No. Neither have you healed that
which was sick. Neither have you bound up that
which was broken. The Pharisees wanted nothing
to do with these kind of people. That's what religion is. That's
what false religion is. They're not going to do any of
these things for you spiritually. There's not going to be any spiritual
help in false religion at all. Neither have you brought again
that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was
lost, but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them."
There's nothing meaner than a person, than a religious person without
Christ. Just go look through history.
Or just look at Calvary. Look who nailed him there. It
was Perseus. It was the one who claimed to
know God. And they were scattered because
they're so shepherds, and they became meat to all the beasts
of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all
the mountains, and upon every high hill, yea, my flock was
scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search
or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear
the word of the Lord. As I live, saith the Lord God,
surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat
to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd,
neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds
fed themselves, and fed not my flock. Therefore, all ye shepherds,
hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God, behold,
I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their
hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither
shall the shepherds feed themselves any more." They're just hirelings,
that's all they are. "'For I will deliver my flock from their mouth,
that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord
God.'" Listen, "'Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep
and seek them out.'" And then you turn over to John chapter
10, and we see the good shepherd seeking out the sheep. Seeking
them out. Look over in verse 23 of Ezekiel
34. He says here, I will set upon one, and I will set up one
shepherd over them. He shall feed them, even my servant
David. You can read that, even my servant
Christ, or even my servant Jesus. He's our David. He's our He shall
feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ
is our shepherd. He is not a hireling. But these
Pharisees, false religion, they're in it for what they can get out
of it. Or what they can get out of you. That's what they're in
it for. And the sheep, he said, do not belong to them. They are
thieves and robbers claiming something that does not belong
to them. And when they see the wolf coming,
They see the wolf coming. He leaveth the sheep
and fleeth. They don't even try to throw
rocks at the wolf. They just see him coming and they leave. They leave. When the hireling
sees trouble coming, he flees. The risk is not worth the price. David was a shepherd. And one time he killed was a
lion and a bear, trying to save the sheep. And
I mean, they were just animals too. Would you do that? I thought, when I read that,
I thought, now that's a shepherd. That is a shepherd. Someone who
would stand up against a bear or a lion to protect an animal,
a sheep. I tell you what, think of God. Think of God coming into this
world and being made sin for us. Going to the cross and dying
that He might save a wretch like me. I mean a wretch. At least that sheep that David
fought for wasn't a wretch. It was just a sheep. It was an
animal. But for the Lord to do that,
for him to become bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, and to die in my stead, what
a shepherd. What a shepherd we have. But
the hireling, when he sees the sheep, when he sees the wolf
coming, the price is too great, and he leaves the sheep. He doesn't
care for the sheep. He doesn't care whether they
live or die. as long as he's okay. And the
wolf catches them and he scatters the sheep. You notice it doesn't
say the wolf catches them and devours them. Scatter, maybe,
but not devour. I just read that to you. I give
unto them eternal life, they shall never perish. Nothing will
ever devour his sheep. Scatter, yes. Over the book of
Acts, the sheep were scattered through troubles and trials. God allows that to happen, but
not devour. And the word wolf here represents
trials and troubles. When the hireling sees this,
it's too much. It's too much. And he leaves,
and the sheep are scattered. Sometimes God allows this to
happen to reveal that the man is a hireling. He's a hireling. He's not a true
man of God. Troubles reveal who and what
we really are. They do. Trials, troubles, they
reveal who we are. They reveal our character. They
do. But the hireling, he says here
in verse 13, the hireling, he flees because he's a hireling.
And as I said, this is above his pay scale. This ain't worth why I'm getting
paid for it. This job's a little too rough. I don't get paid to
do this. I don't get paid to put up with this. He's a hireling. Listen, and he cares not for
the sheep. It is written concerning Christ,
having loved his own, He loved them to the end. He loved them
to the end. And he says in verse 14, I am the good shepherd. He says this again. And know
my sheep. He knows every one of them intimately. He knows where every one of them
are. He knows what every one of them
is going through. He knows every heartbeat of his
sheep. He knows every thought. It's
written in his psalms, thou knowest my thoughts are far off. He knows
my thoughts. He knows everything intimately
about his sheep. I know my sheep and am known
of mine. You know the gospel when you
hear it. You hear the gospel and you say, that's the gospel.
That's the gospel. You're hearing the voice of your
shepherd. You are recognizing the voice
of your shepherd speaking to you. One time, I'm sure I've told you this before.
I've told a lot of things over and over. Once, Dickie and I
was driving down the interstate, and I was listening to a message
that Henry was preaching. I had him listening to him in
the car. And I mean, it thrilled my soul. I told Dickie, I said, that's
the gospel. That is the gospel. And I mean, it was a thrill to
me. And it wasn't just because my
pastor was preaching it. My Lord was speaking. My Lord
was speaking. That's how the Lord's people
hear. One day you're just driving along, and he said, that's it. That's it. That's the gospel. That's the shepherd speaking.
And he speaks through his word, which is the gospel that we preach.
It's the gospel. I'm the good shepherd. And I
know my sheep. I know where they are, whether
they live in Huntington, Ashland, Lexington. I know my sheep. I know them intimately. And they
know me. Sooner or later, sooner or later,
they're going to know me. He's going to reveal himself
to his sheep. Our shepherd is good in every
way. I am the good shepherd. His person
is good. Now, He is truly good because
He's God. His work is good. His blood is
good. His righteousness is good. He
is altogether lovely, our Shepherd. And He knows every one of His
sheep by name. He knows where they are. He knows who they are.
He knows your name. He named you before the world
began. My name was given to me before
my parents gave it to me. My Lord gave it to me. My shepherd. Nothing's hid from the good shepherd. They know him. They know him
by a special revelation which is given by the Holy Spirit.
They know him through his word, and they know him when they hear
him. As the Father knows me, even
so I know the Father. Here's what He's saying. As the
Father loves me, He knows me as He loves me. Even so, with
that same love and that same knowledge, I know the sheep. Oh, He knows you alright. He
knows you. And I lay down my life for the
sheep. Listen, here's what's amazing.
Here's something that's amazing. He knows everything about me.
And he still comes into this world and dies for me. He knows
what a wretch I am. He knows how sinful I am by nature. He says, I know them and I lay
down my life for them. I lay down my life. for the sheep.
Who do we love enough to lay our life down for? There are
some that are close to me. My wife, my boys, my grandchildren. But I don't know that I've...
I'd like to think I'd lay down my life for them. I'd like to
think I'd lay down my life for you. I'd like to think that.
I don't want to be put to the test. I would not want to be
put to the test. And I wouldn't want you to be
put to the test. But he was. And he proved his love. He gave
up his life. He gave up his life. He said,
I laid down my life for the sheep. We are redeemed by the blood
of our Good Shepherd. We are a bought people, a purchased
people, a redeemed people. He gave His life that we might
have life. Now He said, Another sheep I
have which are not of this fold, there at Jerusalem, them also
I must bring in. And that's what He's doing right
now. And all who believe here are a part of that fold. Why didn't the world end a thousand
years ago? Why didn't it end ten years ago?
Because he still has some sheep that he's bringing into the fold. He's not going to lose a one
of them. Not a one of them. Therefore, he says in verse 17,
therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life
that I might take it again. As the son, the father has always
loved him. But now as the obedient servant,
as the mediator, he loves him. He loves him. And he laid down
his life willingly out of obedience to his father because he loves
his father. And he loves his sheep. And glad
to do it. Glad to do it. No man takes my
life from me. No man takes it from me. That
was not even possible. It was not possible that men
or Satan could take the life of the Son of God. When He died, He had to give
it up, didn't He? He gave it up. He said, it's
finished. And he said, into thy hands I
commend my spirit. He had to give it up. No man
takes it from me. I lay it down of myself. I die
of myself. I give up my life for the sheep
myself. I sacrifice myself for the sheep. That's what he did. He laid it
down. As the high priest, he laid himself
down as a sacrifice for our sins. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I lay it down to myself. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power as God to take it up again. He had the power to lay it down,
and he had the power to resurrect himself as God. That's our Good
Shepherd. We have a Good Shepherd. We have
a secure salvation. We are secure in Him. We have in Him all we need. And our Shepherd watches over
us. and will not want." David said, I shall not want.
If God is my shepherd, how can I want? How can I? It says in Isaiah 42, my servant
shall not fail. If I came to want, he failed. A good shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep. And I hope we can lay hold of
that. We can lay hold of it.