I certainly want to agree with
what David said the two pastors who were here said about the
music what a blessing it is. The Lord has given us these that
have talents and they use their talent for the Lord. I appreciate
Gina playing the piano for us today. I was just thinking when
we began having services 40 years ago. Actually, it was this month,
40 years ago. And we rented the schoolhouse
over at Shotwell Intermediate School. And I told Winna, they
had a piano there. I said, you're going to play
the piano. And I believe Winna was 16. And she started playing the piano.
And then when she went off to school, I told Jonathan, I said,
you're the new pianist. And he played the piano for a
while. I don't remember how long. And
now I think Sally has played for many, many years. Brother
Henry Mahan had the same piano player and the same organist
for 50 years. Ryan Bush's mother, Carolee Bush,
plays the piano, and her sister played the organ. What a blessing
to have people faithful, people that have talent, people use
their talent for the Lord, and God give a long time of service. What a blessing it is to the
pastor and to the congregation. Now, if you will, let's open
our Bibles this evening to John chapter 10. One of the problems with man
when we get old, I'm talking about pastors, is we have a tendency
to talk too much about old things and things we remember. I try
to remind myself not to do that, but sometimes I give in, as I
just did. John chapter 10, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But 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. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. 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 harling fleeth,
because he is an harling, and careth not for the sheep. I am
the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I 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 shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might 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 of my Father. There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said,
he hath the devil and is mad. Why hear you him? Others said,
these are not the words of him that hath the devil. Can a devil
open the eyes of the blind? We looked at these same verses
last Sunday evening and we saw several truths in the parable
which is contained in the first five verses of the text, the
parable which the Lord Jesus Christ gave. And then we saw
how that the Lord spoke of himself metaphorically as a door. He was not literally a door. But the truth of a door, what
a door serves for, pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, verily,
verily, I am the door. And then we looked at a few other
things that the Lord told us in this passage of scripture.
But tonight, I have five truths to bring out to us about the
Lord Jesus Christ as the shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ as the
shepherd. In verse 11, he confessed himself
to be the good shepherd. The psalmist David, he declared,
the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. And neither
you nor any other person who has the Lord as their shepherd
shall ever want. Shall not want for any good thing. Those who know Christ, those
who have the Lord as their shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Isn't that wonderful? I shall not want. Okay, let's
look tonight at five things about the Lord Jesus Christ as the
Shepherd. First of all, and I want you
to turn with me to a few of these places, but let's look first
in 1st Peter chapter 5. 1st Peter chapter 5. The Lord Jesus is the chief shepherd. The chief shepherd. 1 Peter chapter 5. The elders which
are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of
the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither
is being large over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
chief shepherd. Now in this passage that we've
just read in Peter, he addresses men who are also shepherds, elders
he refers to them. And he calls himself also an
elder and their work is to feed the flock of God. Of course,
the word flock tells us we're talking about the sheep of God. Shepherds, under-shepherds, they
are to feed the flock of God. But there are shepherds in a
particular location. Just like here in this location,
I am an under-shepherd. I am a shepherd of this flock. And all over this world tonight,
There are elders, there are shepherds who are charged to feed the flock
over which God, the Holy Spirit, has placed them as overseers. That's our work. That's our primary
work. It's not to entertain people,
but it is rather to feed the flock of God. We're to feed God's
sheep. Pastors of local churches. Many pastors. Many shepherds. But there's one Chief Shepherd. There's one Chief Shepherd. And as the Chief Shepherd, He
has authority over all the under-shepherds. All of those of us who are under-shepherds,
who are elders, there's a Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and He has authority over all of us. And we, we under-shepherds
are not to lord it over God's heritage. That's not the purpose
of an under-shepherd, to lord it over God's heritage, but to
be an example to the flock. There's one Lord, and only one
Lord. Sometimes local pastors we know,
I guess I could use this term, get a big head. And they began
to think that they are lords. No, they're shepherds, under-shepherds. There's one Lord. There's one
chief shepherd. And he has authority over all
of the sheep and over all of the under-shepherds. And the
under-shepherds are not the lorded over God's heritage, over his
flock. And we're not to do it for money's
sake, he tells us here. As the chief shepherd, he has
the care over all the believers in every local church. Now under
shepherds, we have the care over the flock, over the which he
has given us authority, but the chief shepherd, he has authority
and he has the responsibility and the care over all the sheep,
in all the sheepfolds. and all the local churches. He
said this, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there
am I in their midst. The Lord Jesus Christ is in our
midst tonight. We should always keep that in
mind, shouldn't we? He's in our midst. That's another
reason why services should be done decently and in order, the
Apostle Paul said. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is in our midst. When he appeared to John, when
John was exiled on the Isle of Patmos, John saw him in that
vision and where did he see him? He saw him in the midst of the
seven candlesticks. The Lord Jesus Christ in the
midst of the seven candlesticks. What do the seven candlesticks
represent? They represent, of course, the
local churches. Seven churches are named there. Ephesus, Myrna, Philadelphia,
and so on. But He was in the midst of all
of them. And here we are gathered tonight
at this time and In this world, I don't know how many, but I
know there's probably thousands maybe that are gathered at this
same time. And the Lord Jesus Christ, as
he is here in our midst, he's also in their midst. Where two
or three are gathered in his name, I am in their midst. As the chief shepherd, he has
the care of all true believers. in all the local churches, or
if you please, in the Catholic Church. You know, and that creed
that some churches recite every Sunday, they call it the Apostles'
Creed, and they are pretty well convinced it wasn't written by
any of the apostles. But anyway, part of that creed,
nothing wrong with it except there's one part I don't like,
But they say, we believe in the Catholic Church. Well, the word
Catholic means universal, doesn't it? I know some people, when
they hear Catholic, they think of Roman Catholic. But no, the
Catholic Church is the universal church. And there's a chief shepherd
over the Catholic Church, the universal church. They're local
churches, yes. And they're under shepherds.
But there's a chief shepherd and he is chief over all the
under shepherds. All right, look in Hebrews chapter
13. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's not only the chief shepherd,
but he's the great shepherd. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
20, we read, Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep. Not only is he the chief shepherd,
he's the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the
everlasting covenant. He has all power. When we read
here that he's the great shepherd, none can be greater. None can
be greater because in his hands He has all power, all authority,
both in heaven and in earth. None can be greater than He that
has all power. None can be greater than He who
is King of kings and Lord of lords. There's no power in heaven,
on earth, or under the earth that is able to snatch one of
His sheep. Remember David, he was a shepherd
boy before the Lord anointed him to be ruler over God's Israel. And two times we're told, while
he was keeping his father's sheep, once a lion, once a bear, they
came and just thought they'd help themselves to one of the
sheep. And that wasn't going to happen,
not on David's watch. Well, this is a greater David
here. This is David's son, who's also
David's Lord, and there's no power anywhere that is able to
snatch one of his sheep out of his hand. He said, I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. Now you know there are those
who go under the name of Christian, who would teach us that it's
possible to be saved, and I assume they mean in the hand of Christ,
and yet to lose their salvation, somehow to be snatched out of
the hand of this great shepherd. Not going to happen. Those people
who teach that, they have a dictionary, evidently, that was published
in hell, that is edited by Satan. And the word eternal means something
altogether different. He said, I give unto my sheep
eternal life. Now eternal life, I think most
everyone here understands what that means. Eternal life is unending. It's
life to know God. He said, I give unto my sheep
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. He's a great shepherd. No one
has the power to snatch one of his sheep out of his hand. And in this same place here in
John 10, we'll look at this maybe in the future, but not only are
we in his hand, But we are in the Father's hand. I just have a hard time understanding
how people are reading the same Bible and come up with a lie
like that, that you may be saved and then lose your salvation. But this is for sure. Anyone
who teaches that believes that salvation is not by grace. but rather by works. Number three, if you will look
with me in 1st Timothy. Not only is Christ the chief
shepherd and the great shepherd, but he is the wise shepherd. 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verse
17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. Now understand that some
people, when they read that verse, they say, well that is to the
only wise God. And God we know is Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. If that It's the case, if this
verse here is telling us, to the only wise God, well remember
this, Jesus Christ is God. He is the eternal Son of God
who was made flesh. But, if you follow with me back
from this verse, it seems clear to me that what the apostle is
saying when he says to the only wise God, he has reference to
the Lord Jesus Christ. The chief shepherd, the great
shepherd, the wise shepherd. Look back with me. In verse 12, And I thank Christ Jesus our
Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry. Who does He say put Him into
the ministry? The Lord Jesus Christ. He gave
thanks unto Christ for putting Him into the ministry. And then
if you look in verse 14, And the grace of our Lord was exceeding
abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. It was from him Paul obtained
mercy and received abundant grace, that is from Christ. And then
in verse 15, who is it that he says came into the world to save
sinners? This is a faithful saint and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. And who was it that was longsuffering
toward him. Howbeit for this cause I obtained
mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering,
for a pattern of them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting
life. You see why I say this verse
now to the King Eternal. Speaking about Christ. To the
King Eternal. He's the one that Paul is been
mentioning all down to this place, the antecedent of this here,
the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and
glory forever and ever. Amen. In our text, back in John
chapter 10, We read this when we think about
the Lord Jesus Christ as the wise shepherd. In verse 15, notice
what he said. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father. Now for being to say I know the
Father, the Father is infinite. infinite in wisdom, infinite
in knowledge. The Lord Jesus Christ, He knows
the Father, for He is one with Him, and He knows His sheep. He tells us that several times,
doesn't He? He knows His sheep. He knows
their names. When your mother and your father,
when you were born, when you came into this world, they've
been praying about her name, thinking about her name, and
boy, there's a whole list of them. They get one of these books
and look through it and think about granddad and grandma and
mother and dad, and they finally come up with a name. God had
given you that name a long time before they did, back in eternity. He knows His sheep. He knows
their name. He knows our hearts. We don't. Sometimes people will say, well,
if I know my heart. Well, you don't. You don't. What we do know is the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Now,
we know that. That's the heart we come into
this world with. Thank God, God gives a new heart,
doesn't He? But He knows our heart. And He
knows our thoughts. Don't you just love that Psalm
139 that speaks about God? Before there's a word on your
tongue, he knows it all together. We serve and worship and love
a great God, don't we? We were talking about that in
the study just a little while ago. And about the sad fact that
so few people today give much thought to the being of God. And because people don't think
about the being of God, for the most part, everybody believes
that God is like we are. And nothing could be farther
from the truth. There's no one with whom you
may liken God. He's a being in a category all
by himself. Knows all things, all power, Eternal. Infinite. Every attribute. Infinite in every attribute.
He knows His sheep's name. He knows their hearts. He knows
their thoughts. He knows their wants. He knows
their desires. He knows our fears. He knows
our sorrows. He knows our temptations. He
knows our trials. He knows the dangers in which
we go. He knows everything about us. And yes, He knows how to supply
our needs. Jesus Christ, the wise shepherd. Fourth, as in our text, The Scripture
says he is the good shepherd. Verse 11. I am the good shepherd, and the
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. In Isaiah chapter
40 and verse 11, he is prophesied of as a shepherd. And I'll read
the text to us. It's Isaiah 40 and verse 11.
It says, He shall feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather
the lambs with His arm, carry them in His bosom, and shall
gently lead them, lead those that are with young. Those of
you who read Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, we'll remember
this past week, one of the evening devotions was from that text. And this is what he said. The
text says, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall
gather the lambs with his arm. How gently did he gather me to
himself. to his truth, to his blood, to
his love, to his church. With what effectual grace did
he compel me to come to himself? Since my first conversion, how
frequently has he restored me from my wanderings and once again
folded me within the circle of his everlasting arms. The best
of all is that he does it all himself personally. Not delegating
the task of love, but condescending himself to rescue and preserve
his most unworthy servant. How shall I love him enough to
serve him worthily? I would fain make his name great
unto the ends of the earth. But what can my feebleness do
for him? Great Shepherd, add to thy mercies
this one other, a heart to love thee more truly as I ought. He's a good shepherd. A good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And the last, the
fifth, the Lord Jesus Christ is a living shepherd. You notice
in verse 10, he said, 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. He is the
living shepherd who died and rose again, and is alive forevermore. He's a living shepherd who has
life in himself, And he said, because I live, you shall live
also. He is the living shepherd who
has life in himself and came that his sheep that we might
have life and that we might have it more abundantly. In the first Adam, we had life,
but we lost it. Think about that. In the first
Adam, we had life, but we lost it. But in the last Adam, we
have life, and we have life more abundant. It can never be lost. Never. His sheep are given life
because he lives. Just like that old Puritan said
one time, as long as you can keep the head above water, the
person's not going to drown. Isn't that true? Everything else from the neck
down can be underwater, not going to drown. Why? Because the head's
above water. And Jesus Christ is the living
head of all His members, all His sheep. Because He lives,
we have life, and we have it more abundantly. As He is, John
said, so are we in this world. The Apostle Paul said, when Christ
shall appear, who is our life? His sheep were born dead in a
law sense. We were under condemnation. The
sentence of death had passed upon us. In Adam, all die. But yet, he has come, and he
gives his sheep life. His sheep, we were all born spiritually
dead, but in time He regenerates us by His Spirit that we may
have life, we may know Him. And His sheep, His sheep are
given a life of glorification. We will dwell with Christ. We will be made like Christ. We will behold His glory. Why? Because he said, I will. I will, Father, that those whom
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory. He's the chief shepherd, the
great shepherd, the wise shepherd, the good shepherd. He's the living
shepherd. May the Lord bless this word,
those of us here this evening. We're going to sing a hymn, 489.