WWUTT 897 I Am the Good Shepherd?

Jesus said that to the shepherd, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. We are the sheep and he is the good shepherd when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing. And if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

John 10 and the Shepherd, the Gatekeeper, and the Sheep

Thank you, Becky. We come back again to our study of the gospel of John chapter 10. And I'll start off today reading verses one through six. We start with Jesus saying, "'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 strangers. This figure of speech used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.'".

And I hope that we understand what it is that Jesus is saying here in these first six verses of John 10. He is warning the people about false teachers, but he's showing contrast between those who speak what is truth and those who lie.

Those who speak the truth will open the door to the shepherd. Look here again at verse three, "'To him, the gatekeeper opens. He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. And to him, the gatekeeper opens.'".

I kind of referenced this a little bit yesterday, but didn't give a whole lot of detail as to who this gatekeeper is. Well, what do you know of a gatekeeper? What does the gatekeeper keep? Well, you're like, the gate, sure.

How does he keep the gate? He's holding the keys to the gate, right? So the picture of the sheepfold that I gave you yesterday was just like a circular pattern of rocks, just dry stack rock wall. And there's one entrance into this sheepfold and there's one way out.

And there's a gatekeeper that stands there keeping the sheep inside, but also protecting the sheep from predators, or in this case, thieves and robbers. Now, that's like the lowest tech form of the sheepfold.

But if you upgrade a little bit more, then you're gonna have a gate right there at the entrance. And the gatekeeper is the guy who has the keys to the sheep pen. And no one can get in except the shepherd.

The Keys of the Kingdom and Church Authority

Now, who is it that Jesus has given the keys to? Well, if you're a Catholic, you're gonna say that Jesus gave the keys to Peter, right? That's in Matthew 16, where in verse 18, he says that I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It's in verse 19, he says, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

So he wasn't exclusively talking to Peter. He was actually talking to all of the disciples. And that's reiterated again in Matthew 18, two chapters later, where Jesus talks about what a pattern of discipline should be followed in the church whenever a brother sins against another.

In Matthew 18, verse 15, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. In other words, he is an outsider. He is not among the sheep.

He is not among those God has called out to follow him. So then Jesus goes on in verse 18 to say, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, "'whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, "'and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'".

Well, where did we hear that? Just two chapters earlier, when Jesus said to you, "'I give the keys of the kingdom.'". So the keys have not just been handed to Peter. They've been given to the entire church.

And as Jesus will even say in the gospel of John, John 20, verse 23, "'If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. "'If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.'". That's that same keys to the kingdom aspect.

The church has been given authority to determine who really is part of the flock of God and who doesn't belong as part of that flock. And so the gatekeeper in this case here in John 10, three, again, as we're talking about true teachers and false teachers, the gatekeeper is the one who opens the sheep pen to the shepherd.

Why?

Because the gatekeeper has been hired by the shepherd. And so this is his master coming. And the gatekeeper is gonna open the pen where the sheepfold is for the shepherd to come in. So you got to picture this as like a pastor, somebody who is truly under the service of the shepherd, not like one of these hired hands that Jesus is gonna refer to a little bit later on here in chapter 10, but you're talking about the one who is actually in the service of the shepherd and is an under shepherd.

Think of what Peter said in 1 Peter 5, beginning in verse one. "'So I exhort the elders among you.'". He's talking to the church, "'As a fellow elder and a witness "'of the sufferings of Christ, "'as well as a partaker in the glory "'that is going to be revealed, "'shepherd the flock of God that is among you, "'exercising oversight, "'not under compulsion, "'but willingly as God would have you, "'not for shameful gain, "'but eagerly, "'not domineering over those in your charge, "'but being examples to the flock.

"'And when the chief shepherd appears, "'you will receive the unfading crown of glory. "'Likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders.'". The church is commanded to be subject to those who have been charged over you to shepherd the flock of God.

"'Clothe yourselves all of you "'with humility toward one another, "'for God opposes the proud, "'but gives grace to the humble.'". So this gatekeeper, once again, is someone who is under the service of the shepherd to open the door to the master that he may come and lead his sheep out.

The gatekeeper is one who is speaking the word of the shepherd in the sense that he is an elder or he is a true teacher of the gospel of Christ. So the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd in the gospel that's being proclaimed, and then they will follow the good shepherd.

That's the illustration of the gatekeeper here. To him, the shepherd, the gatekeeper opens because the shepherd hired him, and the gatekeeper knows who the master of these sheep are. So he's preaching the gospel.

The sheep hear his voice, and they follow him out. That's where we go next in verse three. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Couple this also with what we read earlier in John, with Jesus saying in John chapter six, no one can come to me unless the father draws them, and I will raise them up on the last day.

So these are sheep that God has appointed to be sheep, and they hear the voice of the shepherd because they've been predestined from before the foundation of the world to be part of the flock of God. And so when the gospel is proclaimed, they hear his voice and they follow him, and he calls his own sheep by name.

You see the personal relationship that Jesus has with his own. There was something very personable about knowing a person's name and calling them by name. You think about interacting with somebody, anybody today, and you'll say, what's your name, right?

There's a personal connection that's happened there when you know a person's name. They've already revealed something personal about themselves, their name. You know their name, they know yours. And so now there's a little bit more direct interaction going on between the two of you.

You think back to when God introduced himself to Moses in the burning bush, and he calls him by name, Moses, Moses. Moses comes toward this bush that is on fire, but it's not being consumed. And the voice comes from the bush and says, remove your sandals for the ground that you are standing on is holy.

And when Moses asks who this is that's speaking to him, or when God charges him to go back to the Israelites and go to Pharaoh, and that Moses is going to say that he comes in the name of the Lord, he asked God, who is it that I say that I am coming in the name of?

And God says, I am who I am. He says, I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Everything is being associated by name. It's the personalness of God with Moses that Moses would get to know his name as I am, and that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So Jesus being that very God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush says that he knows his sheep by name. He calls them just as God called to Moses. Remember that the Pharisees in the previous chapter said, well, we're followers of Moses.

That's what they said to the blind man, the man who was once blind and had been healed. He said, you are disciples of Jesus, but we're disciples of Moses. That was back in chapter nine, verse 28. Well, as Jesus had already said to them, if you knew who Moses was, then you would know who I am.

If you knew Abraham, if Abraham was your father, then you would know who I am, because both Abraham and both Moses knew Jesus, but the people don't know Jesus. The Pharisees don't know Jesus. It is only the sheep that God has given to Christ who know who he is, and he calls them by name because he knows them.

He has placed his affection on them before even the foundation of the world. This is, by the way, what foreknowledge means. Foreknowledge does not mean God looked down on the tunnel of time and he saw a decision that you were gonna make someday.

Foreknowledge means that God foreknew us before we were born. He had already placed his love and his affection on us, and as Charles Spurgeon said, I'm glad God placed his love and his affection on me before I was born because he certainly wouldn't have after I was born.

It's kind of tongue in cheek, but you get the point. God associates himself with his sheep and knows them by name. He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out, and we've seen that multiple places throughout the scriptures.

In fact, a lot of references that are coming up here are references back to the Old Testament, and we'll explore that a little bit more tomorrow as well, but let me just give you a little bit here. So Ezekiel 34, and Jesus has referenced Ezekiel already in John a couple of times, and Ezekiel 34 comes up here in this particular section, this relationship between the shepherd and the sheep and the hired hands who flee when the wolf comes and the ones who are thieves and robbers.

All of this goes back to Ezekiel 34. Now, I'm gonna reference some earlier parts of Ezekiel 34, probably tomorrow, but let me skip down to verse 12 here where it says, as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness, and I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel by the ravines and in all the inhabited places of the country.

I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.

I will feed them in justice. But you see there Jesus as the good shepherd caring for his sheep. He leads them out. The sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. Surely you know Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. The shepherd leading his sheep, leading them out.

We have this also in Isaiah 49, starting in verse eight. Thus says the Lord, in a time of favor, I have answered you. In a day of salvation, I have helped you. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, come out.

To those who are in darkness, appear. They shall feed along the ways. On all bare heights shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them for he who has pity on them will lead them.

And by springs of water, he will guide them. Again, all of these references to Jesus leading his sheep. And we, as his sheep, when we hear his voice, he calls us by name and leads us out and we follow him.

Verse four, when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow them for, or the sheep follow him, I'm sorry, for they know his voice. How do you know his voice? How do you know the voice of the shepherd?

It's because your heart has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit to hear the voice of God and listen to it and obey it. You know, when Jesus says, repent and believe, these are not suggestions, nor are they invitations.

Repent and believe are commands. And those who are his sheep will obey them because the Holy Spirit has regenerated our heart to obey them. I read to you from Ezekiel 34, couple of chapters later in Ezekiel 36, I will cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

When?

When I put my spirit within you, when I remove your heart of stone and I give you a softened heart, when I sprinkle clean water on you and cleanse you from all your uncleannesses. After these things, the washing of water through the word, the being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, after this has happened, then you will obey me.

We obey Christ because we've been given the spirit of God to obey him. And whoever does not have the spirit of God cannot please God. This goes to Romans 8, the mind that is set on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.

If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. So it is by the spirit of God that dwells within us that we know we belong to Christ and we hear the voice of God and we follow it.

Before that happens, we're in rebellion against God and we are sheep that have gone astray. That's Isaiah 53. All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone is turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid upon him, upon Christ, the iniquity of us all.

He lays down his own life for the sheep and in so doing, our hearts are cleansed so that we may have open ears to hear the voice of the good shepherd and therefore follow him and obey him. Before that, Romans 3, no one does good.

No one even seeks for God. No one seeks for God. But it is only when we've had this regeneration of the spirit that we now have, once again, open ears, open eyes to see the things of God, to hear the voice of the shepherd and we will follow him and only him.

See, this is another marker, another indication that we are truly the sheep of God when we follow only the shepherd and we do not follow another. The true sheep of God are not gonna follow the thieves and the robbers.

They're not gonna follow the false shepherds or the liars, the false teachers, the false prophets because we know the voice of the good shepherd. Verse five, a stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers.

Why False Teachers Exist and Why the Sheep Do Not Follow Them

And I've shared this with you before, but false teachers exist for three reasons. First of all, because the Bible says so. The Bible says there will be scoffers in the last day, 2 Peter 3. The Bible says that there are false teachers that are gonna come scratching itching ears and people will follow them because they say all the things that those people want to hear those false teachers say.

To Timothy, Paul said that those who desire to lead a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted while evil imposters will go on from bad to worse deceiving and being deceived. So there are false teachers because the Bible says that there are going to be.

But the second and third reason why there are false teachers is because of testing and judgment. Deuteronomy 13, the Lord says, if a prophet comes among you and does a great sign or wonder but has you go after other gods, do not listen to that prophet for the Lord your God is testing you to see whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And then in 2 Thessalonians 2, God gives them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false since they loved pleasure instead of righteousness and they will be judged for their sin. So that's why the Lord gives false teachers because the Bible says there will be, it's a fulfillment of prophecy, for testing and for judgment.

The true sheep of Jesus Christ will pass that test and they will not follow the false teachers, the liars, the false shepherds, but they know the voice of the good shepherd and they will follow him and he leads us into good pasture.

Into eternal life, into his kingdom, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com.

Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.