I am the Good Shepherd

It gives me neither feet nor hands. The better it fits me.

Why, it gives my sin.

There in my place He stood condemned. And here

I stand now justified. My guilt is His.

His grace is mine. Sing it out. Yes, Christ is all my righteousness.

User, He made lessons that I have done.

And these I know. Just let my stand before the throne.

They're dressed in beauty, not much how.

I fully know not till that day how. Praise the

Lord, oh my soul. Praise the Lord best.

Christ is all my righteousness. Praise the

Lord. Christ is all my righteousness.

Christ is all my righteousness. Praise the

Lord. Christ is all my righteousness. What a great truth to start out the Lord's Day gathering today.

I'm so glad that you're here with us I want to say a special Thank you and welcome to our covenant members.

You know who you are. We we love that you continually Seek obedience to King Jesus and using your gifts and What Christ has called you to for this particular body and the fact that you're here this morning

And tells me that you're utilizing your gifts because we oftentimes in our culture think of church as an event to go to and this is

This is nothing like an event to go to this is a unified body coming together in participation of the worship of the triune

God and Just the fact that you're here means that your

Encouragement to the other brothers You're challenging the other brothers all that comes with that as we as we sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs

To one another ultimately to to God as the audience of one, but we're all the praise team, right?

This is the praised y 'all get what I say that this isn't the praise team You're the praise team, right that we are worshiping the triune

God this morning So welcome. I also want to say a special welcome to all of our guests We have a number of guests every single

Sunday. It feels overwhelming We feel blessed that people are being drawn here and coming to see what

God is doing here So thank you for being here. We love you We pray that you would grow in the fear knowledge of the triune

God just as we are and and we you are welcome And you are loved. I do want to say if if you got one of the bags at the at the entrance

The connect card is in there But this connect card if you have prayer request if you have questions if you want to know more about twelve five church

Please fill that out and put it in the offering plate when it comes by in a little bit as our people Participate in giving offering and worship.

This can be your participation You can give us some some information about yourself that we can pray for you that we can reach out to you and and let you

Know more about this particular body, but you are you are welcome here And we we are grateful that you've chosen to join us this day and it is a good day

I was I was glad when they said unto me. Let us go into the house of the Lord Right, and we don't worship at a mountain.

We don't worship in a temple. The veil is torn We worship in spirit and truth.

Amen Amen. Well, there's other brothers and sisters all over the world gathering today aren't there?

It's not just us. We're not alone. This isn't it. They're all over town. They're all over the this community

They're all over the world everywhere gathering on the Lord's Day to worship God on his day

And so we like to make a practice of praying for one of those churches so we want to pray for a local church before we officially begin our service with a call to worship and Today we we want to pray for our brothers and sisters at Central Baptist Paragould I don't know if you've seen their new building there on 49 as you're coming out of Paragould and heading towards Jonesboro They they've got their new location built and they've had services in there for a couple of weeks

And and we just want to lift them up to the Lord We want to pray that God would work in their midst

We want to pray that God would would grow and sanctify his people that are gathered there pray for the leadership

So please bow with me as we pray for Central Baptist Paragould Dear Heavenly Father Lord, we thank you

We thank you for bringing us together this morning. We thank you for not leaving us to ourselves God we thank you for our brothers and sisters that that aren't

Worshipping in this particular location with this specific particular covenant body of believers

We thank you for those brothers and sisters who are committing to gather together all over this world

And all over this community Though we we specifically want to thank you for Central Baptist Paragould Well, we thank you for their leadership

Father we pray that you would give them wisdom and discernment. I pray that you would work in their lives and draw them closer and closer to you

Lord, I pray that they would continue to see the the beauty of Proclaiming the full counsel of God that they would boldly teach what is in your word without skipping without Avoiding Lord, I pray that they would shepherd well

Father I pray for the people that are there Lord. I pray that you would work in their midst. I pray that you would

Mold them more and more into the image of your son That you would use them mightily father that you would

Bring about revival in their hearts and in their lives individually in their families But then in their in their covenant body of believers

That they would spread all over Paragould into Jonesboro and all over this this area

Lord We thank you for them. We pray that you bless them. We pray that you guard them that you grow them that you mold them

Just as we pray for ourselves Christ name we pray this and all

God's people said Amen Let's start our service Let's officially get ready to come into the throne room of God together as his children boldly proclaiming

His truth hearing from him being encouraged by one another Singing his truth praying his truth reading his truth preaching his truth and seeing his truth his word

As we will prepare to go to the Lord's table at the end of the sermon Let's do this as we come in with a call to worship

The Psalms are a great place to start to get our minds pointed to The one that we are gathered here to worship and Psalm 23 is a very familiar

Psalm And it goes with the text and the the the topic of today's sermon that he is the good shepherd

And we see Christ in the midst of this This is a Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd.

He says the Lord is my shepherd He Makes me lay down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters He leads me in paths of righteousness

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death for you are with me your rod and your staff

You prepare a table before me You anoint my head with oil

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

And we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever Hey That's good news, isn't it?

Surely goodness and mercy. This is amazing. We walk in the shadow of death

Not death we walk in the shadow of it because it has no more sting because of our great

Savior who has Defeated death And we get to worship him this morning.

Let's let's go to him in a prayer of adoration before we begin to sing Dear Heavenly Father we come before you once again

You are great You are merciful You are kind you are long -suffering

You have redeemed a people to yourself You Are our

Shepherd And because you are the Good Shepherd the kind Shepherd the gracious Shepherd the gentle and lowly

Shepherd the powerful Almighty Shepherd, I shall not want The lines have truly fallen in pleasant places for us even in the midst of struggle and difficulty

Even in the midst of Walking through the valley of the shadow of death we do not have to fear evil

Because your rod and your staff they comfort us Or do you have prepared a table?

For us in the presence of our enemies And our cup overflows

Because of your great mercy we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever Thank you

For being the Glorious triune God that you are God the

Father who chose us before the foundations of the world Who loved us?

Before knew us God the Son who redeemed us by blood ransom As a gift to the

Father redeeming us from the wrath of the Father and God the Son who is Sealing us for the day of glory

Prompting us and molding us and working your sanctifying power in our hearts and minds to mold us more and more into the image of Our great

Savior Jesus Christ be honored in our worship this morning It's from every nation

Oh To the

Oh Oh Our scripture reading this morning comes from Isaiah chapter 40 verses 10 and 11

Behold the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him

Behold his reward is with them and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd

He will gather the lambs in his arms He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young He is the

Good Shepherd cares for us

We're in the midst of this present darkness We're in this pasture and at times feels

Broken and overwhelming But we are safe We are cared for I've had the

Good Shepherd Let us let us go before him in a prayer of confession and assurance this morning because so oftentimes out in this pasture we stray

I Do you do it? This side of glory none of us will achieve perfection

We have a positional righteousness, but not an experiential righteousness at all times

So we sit We run from the Good Shepherd, even though he's good and we know he's good. We just obey him.

Oh But he always comes and finds us He always pulls us back in he always cares for us

He's always gentle with us He does all that we need

And all that brings glory to him So let us pray this morning.

Oh Father we bow before you once again We come before you

Confessing that we Fall short words don't express it

We like to soften it by saying fall short, but it's more than fall short we We rail against you and rebel rebel against you.

We don't honor you We don't honor you with our words and our thoughts and our speech. We don't honor you with our lives

We don't honor you with our actions so often But we are reminded

That you are the Good Shepherd you always

Care for us. We know that there is a great assurance that you've not lost one of us and that even in our moments of Sin against you and rebellion against you

You Are good and you are there and you are declaring I paid for even that It's done.

Oh, you are so good Thank you for bringing us into your household to your flock

To be your people To be your body Lord I pray for each one of us individually that we would continue on with a life of confession to you

Life of great assurance, I pray for the body as a whole twelve five church here represented

Lord I pray that we would be a people of confession But also a people of great assurance and hope

Because you are the Good Shepherd We thank you Christ Jordan stormy rains

I stand and cast a wish

Canons fair I Reach that hell for sure

Shall reach that Oh That he should give his

Wretch his The pain of Searing The father shows his grace this way

Which These sons to My Game from his

But I praise you so much Father you were persecuted

Crucified it's my sin that put you but I'm so grateful father

That you've saved me Jesus Praise you for that this morning

Pray this morning as we prepare this service order. We we move on move forward in this service

Lord I just pray that you would just Lord I pray you would bless us off Father Lord, and I pray that you would just Just be with pastor

Keith Lord as he comes before us He proclaims your word.

I pray that you would just open every heart open all the ears Lord that we may We may hear and see and just take your word in as he preaches it boldly and preaches truth this

Praise you ask all these things in your son Jesus precious and holy name all God's people said

How deep the father's love for us Nathan you know what we were singing that song and I'll sit there going that could very easily be the sermon text this morning

The words and I hope that you see that and and what I'm bringing to you today This is the fourth sermon in this.

Who do you say that I am series? So the question that Jesus asked and we're that's what we're trying to answer in this serve the series

Who is Jesus Christ who is the Messiah and we're doing this by going through the seven great?

I am statements that Jesus said in the gospel of John Three weeks ago.

We went through I am the bread of life We've covered I am the light of the world and last week

We started this kind of a series within a series where there where we're covering this one long allegory in John chapter 10 if you want to go ahead be turning there that where Jesus says

I am the door and I am the Good Shepherd and we we did a lot of Context last week bringing us up to speed kind of word

Jesus is why he's saying what he's saying if you remember we talked a lot about this Confrontation that Jesus is having with the religious elite the false shepherds.

He ends up calling them thieves robbers hirelings and they are pretty pointed in their rebuke of Jesus Christ and He's very bold in replying back to them

If you remember he said your father is the devil so he was very pointed in his remarks back to them

And today since that happened, I'm gonna be very pointed in my remarks today

I want to warn you a little bit as we get started So we're gonna be starting in John 10 chapter 1 through 18 last week.

We covered the first Six verses so if you weren't here last week Don't think it's that you're very far behind because as I get started

I'm gonna bring you up to speed about what a lot of the different metaphors when this within this allegory

Means, so let's get started Truly truly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door

But climbs in by another way that man is a thief and a robber

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep To him the gatekeeper opens the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own

Sheep by name and leads them out when he has brought out all his own he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice a

Stranger they will not follow But they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of the stranger this figure of speech

Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them So Jesus again said to them truly truly

I say to you I am the door of the sheep all who came before me are thieves and robbers

But the sheep did not listen to them. I Am the door if anyone enters by me

He will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture the thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy

I Came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I Am the

Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep

Sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and scatters them

He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the

Good Shepherd I know my own and my own know me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep and I have other sheep that are not of this fold

I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice so there will be one flock and One shepherd for this reason the father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again

This charge I have received from my father Well as we've seen up to now and it will continue in these chapters

Jesus is repeatedly making the claim of deity to these Pharisees to these false

Religious leaders and one of the main things you need to understand about this allegory is who

Jesus is talking to He's talking to the Pharisees to the chief priests.

He ended at the last of chapter 9 He had a conversation with them after this blind man was healed and he accused them of being blind because they think

That they can see and he even judged them He says your guilt remains and this is just carrying on that conversation

So he is speaking to these false shepherds and we need to keep that in mind now

The church back then had a problem with religious leaders these religious leaders the

Pharisees and the chief priests like I said Especially the Sanhedrin Their problem is that this

Christ this Jesus this Galilean that they thought was not the type of Messiah that they were looking for or wanted

He didn't fit in their little mold of who the Messiah was supposed to be So the question is why why did the

Pharisees despise him so? Why did they hate Jesus, I mean they tried to throw him off a cliff at Nazareth They tried to stone him at the end of chapter 8 and they're gonna try to stone him again

They'll try it again. So why this rampant animosity? Against Jesus.

Well in John 11, if you'd like to kind of turn the page over to John 11, I'm gonna be there briefly in In 47 and 48 that will cover this more detail next week

But this I believe tells us exactly why it says starting in 47

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council now, this is the Council of the Sanhedrin These are 71 of the most religious elite and all of Israel Pharisees Sanhedrin chief priests and so on and they're modeled after the 70 elders of Moses and plus Moses would be 71

So they've gathered the council and they say what are we to do? They've got a big problem on their hand

They've been trying to control it, but now it's spinning out of control For this man performs many signs see that he's still a man.

He's still this Galilean It's what they think of him, but they recognize that he's doing things that they can't really understand

He's all these miracles have unfolded before him if we let him go on this way

Everyone will believe in him is what they say and we've seen were Several times it says and many believed in him and they go on to say and the

Romans will come Take away both our place and our nation

Listen to what they're saying here They're not saying they're gonna take away that place that God put us in and is using us

They're not saying come and take away God's Land, they're saying our place our land

It's all about what they think is theirs and that's exact exactly what Jesus is telling them.

Oh, no You're not the Good Shepherd You're not the door. I am

This is why they hated Jesus so much So in this allegory about a shepherd and a flock of sheep

Most everyone in hearing distance knows what Jesus is saying when he says

I am the Good Shepherd I mean as in the present the 23rd Psalm was one of the most beloved

Psalms to the Jews So they knew what the first verse meant What does it say?

the Lord is my shepherd I Mean the shepherd it's mentioned so many times in the

Old Testament and in the New Testament So they knew what he was claiming. He was claiming to be the

Lord That is the shepherd now one of the verses that speaks about this is in Isaiah 40

Verses 10 11 the pastor just read it just a minute ago Behold the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him

Behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him He will tend his flock like a shepherd.

He will gather his lambs in his arms He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young What a picture of the

Good Shepherd Let us pray Lord God Heavenly Fathers as we talk about your word that you spoke so boldly

In this allegory I just pray that you would give us The deep meaning of what you're trying to say and how it can affect our lives that we may come to know you as the

Good Shepherd as the door Speak to us Lord Jesus today.

I pray Amen So last week we covered actually the first section

That was one through six where he talks about being the door to the sheepfold and we'll go get back to that just a minute

And he's and I said that the good sure Good Shepherd enters lawfully now

There's three different doors in this allegory and this is where people get confused He talks about three different doors and it's important to understand

What he's talking about with each of the doors because they're not all exactly the same.

So let's get started We have the door of the sheep the Good Shepherd leads his sheep and to himself and salvation

So beginning in verse 7 and John 10 So Jesus again said to them truly truly are truly indeed.

It is true that I say to you I am the door of the sheep

All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them

I am the door if anyone enters by me. He will be saved

And go in and out and find pasture the thief only comes to steal and kill and destroy

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly So if we as we continue to deal with this confrontation between Jesus and these

Pharisees I want to point out five distinctions that separates the

Good Shepherd From the false shepherds, which Jesus is calling the thieves and the robbers

Number one the Good Shepherd enters the sheepfold Which is actually historic

Israel. That's what he's talking about When he says sheepfold, he's talking about historic Israel, which is controlled by a false religion

Judaism By the door, that's that first door. I was talking about the door to the sheepfold

Which it talks about in verse 1 He enters it and does not climb over the wall as the thieves and the robbers did

He said they climbed over the wall. Jesus goes through the door. This is the lawful way of entry into Israel He met all of the conditions that the father had set before him to give him the divine right to enter into this door into Israel and claim his sheep

Okay, there's multiple flocks of sheep within this sheepfold One of the flocks is his and that's his sheep.

These are the elect of the Jews Abraham's seed that's what he's talking about and he entered in that door lawfully

Now second the Good Shepherd enters the door by the gatekeeper giving him access to his

Sheep, I explained last week that there are those that feel that this is also Jesus Christ They make good points and I'm not saying they're wrong.

I just don't agree I think it fits more that this is actually the Holy Spirit that gives him access to the sheep

The Holy Spirit when you were saved came into your life Changed your heart of stone to a heart of flesh

Thus giving Jesus Christ the Word of God access to your heart

And I believe this is a picture of what is happening The Holy Spirit opens the door to Jesus Christ gives him access to his sheep

Number three the Good Shepherd speaks with a voice that his sheep Recognize when he calls them they know this isn't a false shepherd calling me

This is the Good Shepherd. They recognize that and what did they do?

They follow him number four The Good Shepherd's manner of dealing with his sheep are different than that of the false shepherds

We talked last week about how the false shepherds were like predators. They drove the sheep before them

They put such a burden on their sheep that there was no way that they could live

According to the law of God if they were just over burdened But the

Good Shepherd leads his sheep out and they follow him. He loves his sheep number five the

Good Shepherd proves himself because his sheep recognize and Respond to his voice.

Like I said, they know his voice and they respond to his voice

They come to him and they follow him and he leads them out to green pastures

So that kind of brings us up to speed to where we are today. So in verse 7 again,

Jesus says Again to them truly truly I say to you I am the door of the sheep all who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them

So in verse 1 I told you we had the door to the sheepfold. This was the divinely appointed way for Jesus to enter into Israel and this is in contrast to the way the false leaders had entered in and now we have the door of the sheep

It's different than the door of the sheepfold this is the only way in which the elect of the

Jews of Israel pass out of Jerusalem of Judaism Jesus did not come to restore

Judaism, but to lead out his own sheep the elect among the Jews He is leading he is calling his sheep to the true door himself

He is calling them to him away from this false religion of the time And that is this religion of the thieves and the robbers

I mean you would think right off the bat Jesus would say I'm the Good Shepherd. I'm gonna clear all this up You don't follow me.

I mean wouldn't that kind of I thought at first that probably would make sense But when you think about it

He doesn't become your Good Shepherd Until you've walked through the door which he is and till you've come to him and salvation then

He becomes your Good Shepherd So in verse 8, he says all who came before me are thieves and they're robbers

I mean, this is another instance. I don't want to get confused about this word all but this is another instance

We're all doesn't necessarily mean all if you remember several weeks ago We talked about the world not meaning everybody on the face of the earth

You have to take the context in which this is said and of course the context is who is he talking to?

He's talking to the false shepherds. He's talking to the religious elite So what he's saying is that not all the false shepherds who came before me

They're thieves and they're robbers. They placed themselves ahead of him and determining what the truth was

They exalted themselves and preeminence above him in stature and they elevated themselves above him in authority

I mean look at the way they've treated him Now that there were good shepherds in Israel.

I don't think anybody can deny I mean just even look at John the Baptist is one that that is just recent to Jesus.

He's not talking about them He's not talking about David or Moses or any of the others

But what he's saying here when he says all who came before me are thieves and robbers he's talking about these false leaders these false self -righteous leaders of Judaism, I mean and nothing is more sinister.

I mean look at the language he uses Nothing is more sinister or offensive to the

Lord than a false teacher They're deceptive. They depend on their own resources and abilities to grasp

What is not theirs? What does not belong to them what they cannot have and that's why he uses a strong language thieves and robbers

There are nothing more than criminals in his sight Well, then in verse 9 and 10 we see the third door.

He says I am the door if Anyone enters by me. He will be saved.

He'll go in and out and find pasture and Again he talks about him.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I Came that they have may have life and have it abundantly.

So we've talked about the door of the sheepfold God's appointed way for the Good Shepherd to enter into historic

Israel and have access to his sheep We've talked about the door of the sheep that Jesus is the way of leading the elect out of Judaism out of this false religion

But now Jesus is saying I am the door So what's the difference?

What what's he talking about? Well, there's a key word here right after he says I am the door.

He says if anyone Notice, he's not talking about his sheep.

That's in Israel. Now. He's talking about Anyone what he's saying and now entering into the door and through the door is not just restricted to Jews only

It's also open to the Gentiles Salvation is open to the

Gentiles is what he's saying and this becomes even more plain if you look down in verse 16

He says I have other sheep that are not of this fold. So he's talking about their sheep outside of Israel Outside of this fold and of course, we know this is the

Gentiles means throughout the Bible Now I want you to note in the statement he makes

That there's a condition of entry There's a condition to go through the door.

And what is that? by me if anyone

Enters by me is what it is. And here again, we have another cause and effect if you enter by me

That's the cause What's the effect? He will be saved

He will be saved there's no other way Jesus is the only door and I want to point out three truths from that Jesus is the only door this door is closed to the self -righteous and the false religions

I mean the the Pharisees they were the ultimate purveyors of self -righteousness

They thought they could earn favor with God by what they did And it's no wonder that the severest rebukes in Scripture are reserved for these false teachers

Jesus calls them blind guides serpents a generation of vipers hypocrites blind fools and whitewashed tombs and in Matthew Matthew 23 there's 36 verses that detail his seven woes to the scribes and the

Pharisees and the Last verse is a scathing question to them. He says, how are you to escape from being sent to hell?

Don't get any worse than that He's saying there's there's no way How can you escape with what you've done and we see this in the world today?

We see this same type of false religion all around us in the world that we live in They're all dependent on one thing

What can you do How can you earn the right

What work can you perform? The second is

Jesus is the only door. It's open to those who come to him by faith church scriptures clear

We just spent a year and a half going through Ephesians We've been going through the doctrines of grace on Wednesday night, and we've seen verse after verse after verse

It is by grace alone and faith alone through Christ alone

You must come to him by faith We were dead in our trespasses and sins and we could do nothing

That means zero without Christ This is why the world is always busy coming up with other doors

They create these doors because they want to find enlightenment or the meaning of life or a way to come to their imaginary God But Jesus tells us that he is the only way to the

Father And the gold standard verse I believe is Ephesians 2 8 and 9.

I don't think you can ever get away from that Paul says for by grace

You have been saved through faith You get that Well, he goes and say wait a minute if there's some question

Let me go. Let me double down on this and it is not your own doing it is the gift of God What he's saying is nothing to do with you

It's a gift of God He says have you got it now? Oh, is there still some question?

Well, let me go further It's not a result of works that so no one can boast that no one can boast

What are you saying? It's not about you. It's not what you can do Because we don't want you boasting and taking any of the glory away from God He gets all the glory for all salvation.

None of it is ours the third truth.

I want to point out Jesus is the only door. He is the only way to salvation.

He is the only door Notice in verse 9. It says I am the door If anyone enters by me

We cannot enter on our own or of ourselves It must be by him

He's the only one that could have paid the price for our sin When he went to the cross he paid the penalty that opened up the way for us to become righteous before God That's what the song we sang about says

This is the doctrine of imputation when he went to the cross our sin

Was imputed to him and his righteousness was imputed back to us

It was Jesus Christ who became the door that allows us to enter into the presence of God the

Father without that in our sin in our darkness

Whatever you want to call it. We could not come into the presence of God There was only one way

Into the ark. There was only one entrance into the tabernacle

There was only one door into the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem And there is only one door into the presence of God the

Father and that is Jesus Christ Acts 4 12 says and there is no salvation for anyone else.

There's no other name under heaven Given among men by which we must be saved

There's only one way There's only one way to be saved. There's only one way to be justified.

There's only one way to sanctification There's only one way to be adopted into God's family

This is the heart of this whole allegory. It's the heart of the issue

This is what Jesus was saying you are not the way when he was talking to these false leaders

I Am the way, you know, this isn't popular in the world.

We live in at all The world hates it creates hostility

Like I said before this is why they're so busy creating all these other doors They hate that.

The only door is Jesus because why? He points out their sin

He points out that there is no goodness in them at all Now they want to ignore if I can ignore that he is just and that he is righteous and only focus on his love

Oh, they're good and happy to have a Jesus like that. Oh, yeah, I Can accept that?

And they but they deny him they deny that there is no beginning Because if there's no beginning then there's no end that leaves them with a

Jesus that only loves and Does not judge Because we know in the end there's judgment that way

They can be good enough They can be good enough on their own. They don't need

Jesus Christ then one of the worst sins is Believing that we by our own merit can be good enough

That is what is the basis the foundation of all false religions

That we can be good enough But we know we can't Scripture makes it clear.

We cannot be good enough. That's why Jesus must be the door now in verse 10

I want to move on What a contrast I mean, I don't know if you can get see darkness and light anymore

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy There is death

What does Jesus say? I came that we may that they may have life and have it abundantly

What a contrast and I mean he is blatantly Contrasting himself with these false religious leaders of this false religion.

This is Judaism what it's become I mean false religions a fleck on effect on the flock is disastrous

It's destructive and it's insulting to God They're only interested in their power in their influence in their importance in their position in Their material gain.

I mean, it's well documented in time of Jesus There was many of the religious leaders that were enriching themselves

While they sheared the flock They were enriching themselves at the flocks expense now last week

I read this section out of Ezekiel 34 and I think it's important that I read it again Because I don't think there's hardly a better picture or a commentary on the selfish and cruel behavior of these false leaders this false religion

Ezekiel 34 1 through 4 says The word of the Lord came to me son of man prophesy

Against the shepherds of Israel prophesy and say to them even to the shepherds thus says

The Lord God Oh shepherds of Israel Who have been feeding yourselves?

Should not shepherds feed the sheep You eat the fat you clothe yourselves with the wool you slaughter the fat ones

But you do not feed the sheep The weak you have not strengthened the sick you have not healed the injured you have not bound up the strayed

You have not brought back the lost you have not sought and with force and harshness

You have ruled them the perfect commentary of the state of Judaism at the time of Jesus I mean the saddest part is they knew what this meant these religious leaders

They knew this verse most of them probably even knew it by heart, but just like Jesus told them

They were blind They could not see they claim they could see But they were blind and he judged them for that he rebuked them for that What was so obvious to them they could not see and I go back to the statement of you several time

John the Baptist said there was one that stood among them that they did not know

But the contrast the light the Sun comes up the light of the world

Jesus offers life and life Abundantly now this life abundantly is not material possessions is some people think they think that is what's going to give me life

That's what it's going to make me happy. This life is eternal life

It's having hope it's having joy It's having peace in our current life because we follow the

Good Shepherd It's not a new SUV. It's not a new device or a new gun for those who hunt out here

It's not having the latest greatest 2 .15 of Anything it is all about a relationship

It's about a relationship with our Good Shepherd It's about having a relationship with his flock

You get that? It's not only the Good Shepherd, but it's with his other sheep and that's what we're doing here today

We have a relationship with our Good Shepherd, but we also have a relationship with his flock

It also includes the sure knowledge that we will enter into the internal presence of the

Father when he comes and he returns 1st John 5 11 12 says and this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life

And this life is in his son is in our Good Shepherd.

Whoever has the Sun has life Whoever does not have the

Sun does not have this life. They have darkness So in this next section that we're going to cover

Jesus turns it completely around on these false guides He gives two alternatives and he plainly states which one he is

This is the love of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd has a compassionate heart for his sheep

Starting in 11. I am the Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming

Leaves the sheep in fleece and the wolf snatches them and scatters them

He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the

Good Shepherd I know my own and my own know me Just as the Father knows me and I know the

Father and I lay down my life for the sheep And I have other sheep that are not of this fold

I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock one shepherd

For this reason the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again

This charge I have received from my Father So here's another of the great

I am's Claim Jesus is making. I am the Good Shepherd There's no way that they missed that Like I said before I mean this speaks right back to the first verse of the 23rd song

The Lord is my shepherd and he was applying this to him. I Mean the same prophecy from Ezekiel 34 that I read just a minute ago

If you go just a little bit lower This prophecy changes from the false shepherds to the

Good Shepherd and listen what the Lord has to say about it For thus says the

Lord God Now I want to tell you anytime you see that in prophecy pay attention It's about to get serious behold,

I He says behold I I myself Will search for my sheep and will seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered and I Will seek out my sheep and I will rescue them from all places

Where they have been scattered on a day of cloud and thick darkness

This is exactly exactly what the Good Shepherd entered into It was a day of cloud and thick darkness in Jerusalem And this prophecy is being fulfilled when

Jesus entered the scene When he was incarnated when he stepped on earth

He fulfilled I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out

So we've covered three contrasts starting last week and we're going to see the fourth here in just a second

We covered light and darkness When he said I am the light We covered sight and blindness when he healed the blind man and had the confrontation with him and the blind man came said

I believe we talked about that and we've seen true and false religion

When Jesus was pointing out to these Pharisees boldly that their religion was false

And now we're going to see the contrast between love and indifference Look at verse 11 in John 10

This is love I am the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

I Mean Jesus is claiming that he is The Good Shepherd now this

Greek word for good is really interesting when you get to look into it. It's very

Comprehensive and the first time that it's used in the New Testament is used when he's talking about good fruit

The good fruit and what this really means what it's interpreted as it's rendered as worthy the worthy fruit and The first time you see this word good used in the

Gospel of John. It was at the wedding feast in Cana You remember when Jesus turned the water into wine the governor stood up and said, oh you saved the good wine

Until last the best It signifies choice are excellent

So what Jesus is declaring when he says I am the Good Shepherd he's saying I am the preeminent excellent shepherd of Israel Elevated infinitely above all who have come before him the term

Good Shepherd views him and a distinctive relationship with his sheep this section expressly speaks of his love for those that the father have past tense

Given him and how did he express this love? He laid down his life for the sheep

Then in verse 12 and 13 we see indifference Which is the contrast to love?

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming

He leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and scatters them

He flees because he's a hired hand he cares nothing for the sheep

See this hired hand. He's a professing servant of God But he's filling the position only for the benefits that he can get for the personal advantages, which it affords

He's a mercenary He has no other impulse than the lust of money and gain and fame

This hired hand has neither an ownership of the sheep nor any true affection for them

I mean Christ says and cares nothing for the sheep And we see this in our time

Just as they saw it back then I mean we see the tale of Angelus and the prosperity teachers in their greed

Trying to get what they can We see the modern -day apostles Prophets Prophetesses that use their imagination as the

Word of God We see those who claim to be pastors and elders and bishops

Who never met the standards set forth in Scripture or maybe they've run afoul of what

Scripture decides states that that they should be and they refuse to repent and Step down and be restored these

They're the modern -day hired hands that Jesus is talking about They have little care if any for the flock

They're trying to shear the flock as they were in the days of old and God has a scathing rebuke for them in Jeremiah 23 1 through 2

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture to scares declares the

Lord Therefore thus says the Lord the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who care for my people you have scattered my flock

You've driven them away, and you've not attended them Behold, I will attend for your evil deeds declares the

Lord You see the Lord treats them all The robbers the thieves the hirelings with equal contempt in verse 14

Jesus goes on to say again I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me

Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep

Now at first glance you'd think that Christ is being repetitive or redundant Here and saying that that I am the

Good Shepherd You'd think this is an attempt to add emphasis to what he's already said and to degree that is true

But to a larger degree he's adding emphasis to what he's about to say

And before we get there. I want us to look at this one key word that these that's in these two verses 14 and 15

It's used four times and that is the word no K no W. I mean this signals something way beyond just just knowledge or mutual knowledge about each other

It means it signifies an intimacy between the shepherd sheep

Relationship it's grounded upon the intimacy Between the

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit This defines their relationship

I mean look at verse 14 and 15 again. I am the Good Shepherd.

I know my own I Have intimacy with my own and my own know me we have an intimate relationship that goes beyond mere knowledge and Then he compares that to what it really is just as exactly like the same as The Father knows me and I know the

Father he says this love that we have for each other that the

Shepherd has for us and the Good Shepherd that we have for the Good Shepherd. It's exactly like the love he has for the

Father. There's no difference. It's just as And then he goes on to say because of that That's Keith inserting a phrase because of that.

I Lay down my life for the sheep how deep The love the

Father has for us how deep the love our Good Shepherd has for us He says

I laid down my life for the sheep He paid the price instead of us

Having to pay that price So then he goes on in verse 16. He talks about this other fold that we mentioned earlier

He says and I have other sheep that are not of this fold I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice

So there will be one flock and one shepherd. I mean he said he states plainly.

I have other sheep He does not say other sheep. I shall have I Have them already is what he's saying

He has his sheep because the Father has given to them to him Since eternity past and Of course here.

He's talking about the elect among the Gentiles Not only for the Jews would he lay down his life but also for the

Gentiles These were the elect that were outside of the sheepfold

He was talking about the nation of Israel and he goes on to say I must bring them also

And they will listen to my voice and there's no uncertainty at all in this statement

There's no question. He says I will bring them because they will

Hear my voice and as we discussed in the first week, there is no failure in Jesus Christ There's no failure in God the

Father. There's no failure in the Holy Spirit. There can't be They would not be

God At all if there was ever any uncertainty or failure in them each of his sheep will hear his voice

They will listen to my voice was a promise and it was also a prophecy and Then the last of verse 16 he says so there will be one flock and there will be one

Shepherd Now, I mean even to suggest this to the Jews and the Gentiles I mean, it must have really as I like to say pop their cork

They must have really gone off on this If that were even possible for him to go further with him

When the last section is the foundation of the Good Shepherd's love we see in verse 17 to 19

Says for this reason the Father loves me Because I lay down my life that I may take it up again

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again this charge

I received from my father I Mean throughout the life of Jesus when you study

Jesus Christ in all of Scripture, there are two attitudes There are two character traits that gives significance to the relationship that he had with his father this was love and obedience

These two attitudes they're inseparably linked They're together. They cannot be separated love and obedience

It is impossible There's no possibility

For you to love God without obedience I Want to repeat it is impossible to love

God without obedience And this is a monumental truth concerning our relationship with our

Savior Love and obedience. I mean look at what he says

My father loves me because And he tells why

I lay down my life for the sheep and Then at the end this charge

I have received from my father What he's saying is I am obeying my father

And this is why he loves me love and Obedience the father loved the son because he laid down his life for his sheep

This was all whom the father had chosen from eternity past and gave to his son in time

Laying down his life was the ultimate Manifestation of his devotion to the father

Jesus laid down his life not under compulsion But willingly the two ultimate

Supreme acts of love in the Bible are the father sending his son the

Good Shepherd to atone for his sheep's sin and The son giving his life willingly

For his sheep. So in closing as we've looked at this allegory,

I believe this Leaves us with several questions That need to be asked and when

I first started last week I told you we were switching more from a personal standpoint to more focusing on the church

Because he's focusing on Judaism in the religion So the first questions that I have is for the religious leaders today not just here in this room

But in the Universal Church those that may be watching over the internet or watch later in a recording

And the first one is do you know him and do you see him for who he is? Jesus Christ the

Messiah or have you become blinded by the culture and the desire to be popular?

Do you teach accurately from Scripture who the person and the work of Jesus Christ is

Are you or have you been blinded? blinded by the desire of holding on to power and fame

Pleasing those who you consider important in your congregation are you willing to stand up for righteousness and truth as Jesus Christ did and face the consequences

First Peter 5 2 & 4 the Lord speaks to the leaders of the church be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care

Serving as overseers not because you must but because you are willing It's God wants you to be not greedy for money

But eager to serve not lording it over those entrusted to you But being examples to the flock and when the sheep chief shepherd appears

You will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away What a promise elders of the church today

Jesus asks of you Who do you say that I am? This is a question you must answer and if you get it wrong

Jesus may well be saying to you if you were blind you would have no guilt

But now that you say we see your guilt remains Just what he said to the

Pharisees when they were talking about the blind man Now the second set of questions

I have may be coming from a person here today Concerning what Jesus has said You may be asking pastor

Keith. How do I know if I am part of the Good Shepherd's flock?

How do I know if I'm one of his sheep? How can I know if I have been saved?

Well, I can emphatically tell you that the answer to both of those questions All those questions are before you in the scripture that we've been talking about these last two weeks

You see Jesus sets two conditions about his sheep how you can recognize his sheep first the sheep

Hear his voice They hear his voice. Have you heard his voice?

I'm not talking about your imagination I'm asking if you have heard him voice

Has he spoken to you from his revealed word or through the words that we've been talking about today or maybe last week?

Have you heard him call you by name and speak to you? The second condition that Jesus sets is his sheep follow him

Because they know his voice Do you have an innate desire to follow

Jesus Christ to love him to obey him? To know him more to abide in him and to become one of his flock

If the answer is yes to both of these questions Then I ask after the service is over when we're done

Come to pastor Jeremiah Pastor Nathan or myself Let's have a discussion on how the

Lord is working in your life Let us pray Lord God.

We are so thankful that we have your word to guide us That you are our

Good Shepherd and you lead us to green pastors Lord that you lead us in and out

That we can rely on you and have life and have it more abundantly Lord I just pray for your flock

I pray that you would watch over them as you've promised and that you would grow them and that you would continue to feed them in Jesus Christ's name

Amen, so this brings us to the Lord's table That we can be remembrance of our

Good Shepherd Will that was willing to go to the cross for the sake of his sheep This was an expression of his eternal love and in coming to the table

Not only are we remembering his sacrifice, but we're also Acknowledging our union with him and his flock.

This is done in obedience Demonstrating our love for our Savior Jesus Christ Now as always

I want to remind all that this is a sacred time when you come to the Lord's table It is for believers

It is though those who know Christ and follow Christ those that have been saved and rest their hope on his death

And resurrection if you're not a believer, then we ask that you refrain from coming to the table today

If you are a believer, we encourage that you examine your heart Before you come to the table so you can come in a worthy manner

Now the way that we do this if you're a guest we split Pretty much down this away

Right down here these people will come over here and Get the wine and the bread and all y 'all will go to that table over there and then come back in the middle and go back to your chairs

So let us pray Father in heaven, we bow our heads in reverence of your love and Sending your son as a sacrificial lamb

We thank you for the words of Christ for the cross of Christ Today we come not in our own righteousness, but in your many and great mercies that were freely given to us