The Good Shepherd & Fierce Wolves

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the 10th chapter.

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At that time, the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon.

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So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the

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Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you do not believe.

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The works that I do in my Father's name they bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.

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My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

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My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the

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Father's hand. I and the Father are one. This is the Gospel of the Lord.

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In the name of Jesus. Amen. All right, there is probably no more enduring picture of Christ and the church than that of Jesus as a good shepherd and we as his sheep.

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Let's be honest, being sheep is not exactly a flattering thing. Sheep are not exactly known for their brilliance and their intelligence.

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They have to be cared for constantly, and they have this really bad habit of either biting or wandering off or both.

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That's us. And so we, being dependent upon our good shepherd, would pay heed to what is explained to us in our

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Scripture texts today. I'm going to see if we can weave them together a little bit. And we'll start with our Gospel.

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We'll work partway through it and pick up some of the themes from it. It says this in John 10, At that time the

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Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem, and it was winter. A little bit of a note here. The Feast of Dedication is not one of the

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Mosaic Covenant feast days. This is Hanukkah, of all things.

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This feast day that came up during the Maccabean period, intertestamental. So Jesus is in Jerusalem in the wintertime during Hanukkah, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon.

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Love that little note here. Note that the son of David is in the colonnade named after the son of David. Little fun stuff that you can throw together like that.

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So the Jews, they gathered around him. Now here come the wolves. These are not people who are believers in Christ.

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These are the ones who their plots and schemes will eventually kill Jesus. And we'll note here that like a wolf pack, they've gathered around him, and they're snarling already.

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And they said, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

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And here's Jesus' answer. I told you, you don't believe. There's nothing to debate here.

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Jesus is not going to get into a debate with them. Then he notes that the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness about me.

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But the reason you don't believe is because you're not among my sheep. My sheep, they hear my voice.

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I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

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Great picture here. Now a little bit of a note, much confusion about this idea of my sheep hear my voice, and false teachers abound today who will teach you and try to tell you and convince you that if you are truly a

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Christian, then you need to learn how to hear the still small voice of Christ.

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He will speak to you directly. But you see, it's really hard to tune everything out. You've got to turn the

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Internet off, maybe stop listening to the radio, sit in a quiet spot, and maybe assume the lotus position and say,

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Om. And then it's like tuning in a radio station. They say, there's

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Jesus communicating over some strange spiritual waveform, and he's saying,

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I'm talking to you. Can you hear me? And you say, I barely hear you, Jesus. Can you talk louder?

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And this is nonsense. This is nonsense. Jesus makes it very clear. He says to his disciples who would become the apostles, the one who hears you hears me.

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The one who hears me hears the one who sent me. If you want to hear the voice of Jesus, you need to find out where those apostles recorded what

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Jesus said for us. And the Gospel of John just happens to be one of those places. How do we know what

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Jesus said during the Feast of Dedication this winter time? Well, because John the apostle wrote this down for us, and we can hear the voice of Jesus in the text that the

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Holy Spirit inspired him to write. This is where you go to find the voice of Jesus. And so you'll note then that Jesus' sheep hear his voice, they believe him, they follow him, and he gives them.

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They don't earn it. He gives them eternal life, and they will never perish.

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And no one will snatch them out of my hand. And always think of the good shepherd now after the cross, because Jesus' hands are nail -scarred.

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And so he's got his sheep, and he's protecting them. Nobody's snatching them out of his hand.

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Now, all of that being said, fast forward into the book of Acts, into our epistle first reading text today, and you'll note that the apostle

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Paul now is picking up on these same themes and describing the

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Christian congregations in the city of Ephesus as the flock of God, as these shepherding flocks.

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These are his sheep. And that as pastors, pastors are overseers. They are undershepherds of the great good shepherd.

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And the apostle Paul is giving a very firm warning, and that is that being a flock, having undershepherds under the great shepherd, that there are wolves then that we must look out for.

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And the contradistinction between the apostle Paul, who is truly an apostle sent by Christ, and the wolves is stark, and that interesting parallel when you compare the two still plays out today.

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And I'm going to pick on a couple of really bad false teachers. We'll note for today's exercise, we will name names.

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We will include Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, and Joel Osteen, just to name a few, as examples of false teachers.

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By the way, if you have any inkling as to figuring out who are the bad and false teachers in the church today, the wolves that are ravaging the church, go to the

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Christian bookstore, and any Christian book that has a highly polished, photoshopped portrait of the author, there's a 99 % chance you're dealing with a false teacher.

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I'm just saying. We'll talk about that in a little bit. But here's what the apostle

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Paul says to the pastors of Ephesus. As he's gathered them, he's heading towards Jerusalem.

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He knows he's going to be arrested. And he says, You'll note that being a

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Christian pastor, or somebody sent by Christ, or God the Holy Spirit, will oftentimes involve harrowing circumstances, oftentimes people plotting to figure out how to get rid of you.

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Paul suffered this fate. Well, even Jesus suffered that fate. And then he says this,

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Now, he's going to use that word, shrink, twice in this admonition that he's giving to these pastors.

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And this is an important one. And the reason why is because pastors are sinners, just like the people in their congregation, and they are tempted in many wicked ways to not tell you everything that God's word says.

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And so you think of those churches. I've had pastors like this where you sit there and you go, When was the last time when

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Pastor So -and -So actually talked about sin? He keeps calling them mistakes, slipsies, and oopsies, and bad decisions.

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But he never really talks about it as sin. In fact, when was the last time he talked about the doctrine of hell?

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When was the last time he told us that sexual immorality is a big deal? You'll note then that there are pastors whose theology is, well, glaring due to the fact that they omit large portions of Scripture.

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So you confront Pastor So -and -So. Pastor So -and -So, why haven't you told us about sin and Jesus? And why don't you ever talk about hell and things like that?

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And Pastor So -and -So says something like this. Well, we don't want to offend the seeker.

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We wouldn't want to make our church irrelevant. No, no, no, no, no. We've got to make sure that for the sake of evangelism that we make our message as broadly acceptable as possible.

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And you sit there and go, oh, evangelism, yeah, that's important stuff.

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So the confused sheep wanders off thinking, okay, well, if we want more people to come to Jesus, we better tell them less about the

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Bible than what's in there. And this is nonsense. The problem here is not evangelism.

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The problem here is that the pastor is seeking the accolades of the world and does not want to have the stigma of Christian doctrine and its exclusive claims pinned on him.

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He wants to be viewed charitably by everybody, including those who attend the mosque. This is a person who is shrinking back, who's acting in fear because, well, he understands that preaching the full counsel of the

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Word of God could result in some bad results as it relates to his own personal way he's held up in the community.

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But Paul says, I didn't shrink back from declaring to you anything that was profitable. I did it in public. I did it from house to house.

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His message was the same regardless of whether or not he was in the pulpit or he was leading a small group

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Bible study. And then he notes this, that he testified to both Jews and to Greeks everybody he could tell of, listen to this, repentance towards God.

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That's a missing message today in so many churches, the concept of repentance, changing your mind, confessing that you've fallen short, of repentance towards God and in faith in our

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Lord Jesus Christ, faith in Him for the forgiveness of our sins. And then he says this, Now, behold,

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I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction await me.

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You know, there's a whole group of people who claim to be prophets today who basically say that if a message that supposedly is coming from God comes to you and it doesn't affirm you and make you feel good, it's not really from the

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Holy Spirit. And I would argue that being told from God the Holy Spirit that imprisonment and afflictions await the

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Apostle Paul, that would be the exact opposite of the type of message that would give somebody the warm fuzzies inside.

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And you'll note that the Apostle Paul doesn't reject this word from the Holy Spirit as negative as it is and as personally costly as it is.

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Instead, he just embraces it. Why? Because he says, I don't account my life of any value, nor is even precious to myself.

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If the Holy Spirit wants me in prison, the Holy Spirit wants me in prison. If God wants me dead, I'm dead. Who cares? I'm not of any value.

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You know, it's never about the Apostle Paul. It's always about Christ. So I don't account my life of any value, as precious to myself.

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If only I might finish my course. And the ministry that I received, he received a ministry from our

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Lord Jesus Christ. And the ministry was to testify to the good news of the grace of God.

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And there's that Apostle Paul. Everything always seems to hook back into the crucified and risen

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Savior who bled and died for our sins and how we have good news preached to us that Christ is forgiving our sins because of what he has done for us.

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And so Paul then says, Now behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

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Therefore, I testify to you this day that I'm innocent of the blood of all of you. Whoa, wait a second here.

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Stop this train for a minute and consider what he's saying. Is he literally saying to pastors that they could be guilty of the blood of those whom they preach to?

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Yeah, you betcha. That's exactly what he's doing here. Have you never read the prophet

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Ezekiel? It's exactly what he's saying. So those pastors who are shaving off the hard edges of Scripture, who are not preaching the full counsel of the

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Word of God, who are not proclaiming repentance and forgiveness of sins and calling all sinners to repent of whatever their sin is and to trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins and preaching and teaching the full counsel.

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He says, I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of the Word of God. Therefore, I'm innocent of all of your blood.

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And to the pastor then who will not preach the full counsel of the Word of God, those sheep under his care who end up becoming barbecued in the fires of hell, their blood is on his hands.

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Stricter judgment for pastors indeed. Consider that. But then he goes on.

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So pay attention, careful attention to yourselves and to all of the flock in which the

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Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God.

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Remember, it's his flock. He purchased it with his own blood. And when did

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God have blood? When does God bleed? Answer, in the incarnate Son of God, who is

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God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made. This is the one who by virtue of the fact that he was born of the

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Virgin Mary takes on a human nature for himself that in him that the whole world was being reconciled to himself.

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It was through his blood that he purchased the sheep flock of God. And the

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Holy Spirit has called pastors to care for them because God works through means. And then he gives this stern warning.

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I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

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And from among your own selves will arise men who will speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.

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Note the fierce wolves where their origin is, the visible church.

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I want you to think about this. Who has done more damage to the church for real?

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New atheist Richard Dawkins or Kenneth Copeland?

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Who's done more damage to the body of Christ? I would argue that Richard Dawkins is such a tiny little threat.

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So few people have been deceived by his new atheism. Most people won't even listen to him as Christians.

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Oh, but Ken Copeland comes along and Ken Copeland says, you sow a $1 ,000 seed offering into my ministry so that I can get a third private jet.

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And God will bless you a hundredfold and make you wealthy and prosperous. And I'll teach you how to decree and declare so that you can create your prosperous and healthy future with the words of your mouth.

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This is the guy who has ravaged the church and he is a fierce wolf. He teaches twisted things and he has ravaged the flock of God and he rose up from within it.

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So we would pay very close attention to these words. The greatest threats to the body of Christ arise from within, not from without.

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And then the hallmark of them. They draw away the disciples after themselves.

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No pastor is to make disciples after himself. Every pastor who is truly a pastor and undershepherd of the great shepherd is to make them disciples of Jesus by teaching them to hear the voice of Christ in the words of Scripture, to teach them sound doctrine according to Scripture, to lead them in the paths of righteousness outlined in Scripture, not their own musings, not their own ideas, not their own speculations, not their own twisted ideas.

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Nobody here is my disciple. Nobody here.

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We are all disciples of Christ. So be alert. Remembering that for three years,

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Paul says, I did not cease, night or day, admonishing everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

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And you'll note then the Apostle Paul turns all of these people over to the providence of God and to the

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Scriptures and the word of grace and the very Scriptures that are able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified, made holy by the

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Holy Spirit. And the Apostle Paul notes that I coveted no one's silver or gold. And here's where the contrast is stark between a true undershepherd of the good shepherd

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Jesus and a false and fierce wolf. Here's what he says. I coveted no one's silver, and you yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.

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Note the Apostle Paul had every right to earn his living by the preaching of the gospel, as the other apostles did.

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And never once does the Apostle Paul say, I need you to sow into my ministry and honor me as an apostle.

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Instead, he basically says, I set an example for you. When I came into Ephesus, I paid all my own bills by working with my own hands.

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Paul was bivocational as a church planter. He spent his days in the agora working as a tentmaker and helping people who wanted tent supplies and things of that nature.

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And the money that he earned, that was the money that he used to pay for his own church planting ministry.

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And he holds this up then as an example so that we can all see that he practiced what he preached.

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So in all things I've shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak remember the words of the

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Lord Jesus, and this is how he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

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Today's fierce false teacher, Wolves, it's all about you financially helping and assisting them, if you can even call it assistance, because at the end of the day, their multi -million dollar mansions and multi -million dollar jets and multi -million dollar cars and super expensive clothes do nothing to serve the body of Christ at all, but only to serve their own egos and greed.

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And the Apostle Paul, arguably one of the greatest apostles of all time, he was never about making money, he was always about working hard and then taking what he had earned and using that so that he can preach the gospel.

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And by setting the example, it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is the Apostle Paul who exemplified what a good shepherd is, somebody who gives and focuses on giving rather than making everybody give to him.

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You see the difference? It's stark when you consider it. And such is the kindness of Christ.

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And so, Christ then goes on in our gospel text to say that my Father who has given me these sheep, he is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my

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Father's hands. And then he says this important thing that I and the Father are one. They are one in essence.

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And so note then that Jesus, our good shepherd, that because of what he has done for us and continues to do for us, he has not left us alone.

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He continues to guard and to protect us. And so now we can see a perfect picture of Christ in Psalm 23, one that we are all familiar with.

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And we can say it in this way, the Lord is our shepherd. And because of him and what he has done for us in creating us, sustaining us, in giving us the things that we need for our day -to -day survival, as well as bleeding and dying for us, we shall never be in want.

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He causes us to lie down in green pastures, and he leads us besides the still waters.

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And I think this is a wonderful picture even of our baptism. And it's in the still waters of baptism that he has washed away our sins and has cared for the fact that we are sinful and wandering sheep.

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And because we have sinned greatly against him, he then restores our souls. And he leads us now in paths of righteousness, and he does all of this for his name's sake.

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And even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and that's what each of us are doing right now, presently.

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And some of the parts of this valley of the shadow of death are darker than others. But despite all of that, where we are, we will fear no evil, for he is with us.

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He is with us here in forgiving us our sins in the words of the absolution. He is here with us today in body and blood, broken and shed for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

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And we will fear no evil because he is presently with us. He has neither left us nor forsaken us. And even his disciplinary tools as a shepherd, his rod and his staff, they comfort us.

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And he prepares then a table before us in the presence of our enemies.

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And here's the table set for us today. And he anoints our head with oil, and our cup then overflows.

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And because of our good shepherd Jesus, who has died for these mangy sinful sheep that we are, surely goodness and mercy now shall follow us all the days of our life.

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And ultimately we shall all dwell in the house of the Lord forever. As memorable, as basic as this concept of Jesus' good shepherd, we his sheep, and the dangers of wolves are, as memorable and simple as it is, it is deeply profound.

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And never let us forget the picture that we saw then in the book of Revelation today, where we have this great multitude of every nation, the huge flock of God called from every tribe, language, nation of earth, all praising them clothed in white.

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The angel asked John, who are these then that are clothed in white robes? Which is appropriate for sheep, because sheep are white.

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And where have they come? He said, sir, you know. And he said, these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation.

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They are the ones that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So brothers and sisters, let us again recognize our habit to wander, our habit to sin, our habit to bite, our habit to rebel.

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Let us recognize that we are in great need to be cared for and protected by our good shepherd, Jesus. But also let us never forget that it is

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His blood that purchased us, His blood that has washed us, and it is because of what

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He's done for us that now, rather than being defiled and muddy with sin, we are now white because of the blood of the

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Lamb. Therefore, they, we, will be before the throne of God.

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We will serve Him day and night in His temple, and He who sits on the throne will shelter us with His own presence.

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And there's a day coming when none of us shall hunger no more, none of us will thirst anymore.

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The sun will not strike us anymore, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the

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Lamb of God who laid down His life for His sheep, is in the midst of the throne, and He will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

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Thank You, Lord Jesus, for dying, wandering, sinful, ornery sheep, sheep as sinful as me, and covering us, and washing us, and protecting us, and guarding us, and leading us ultimately to Your throne.

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We thank and praise You for all that You've done, Good Shepherd Jesus. In the name of Jesus, Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to And again, that address is

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We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message.