Who is your Shepherd - 85 Part 65

The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want, He makes me down to lie. In pastures green, He leadeth me, The quiet waters by. My soul in earth restore again, And me to book doth make.

Within the path of righteousness, In for His own name's sake. I walk in death's dark vale, Yet will I fear no ill, For Thou art with me, and Thy rod And staff me comfort still. My table Thou hast furnished, In presence of my foes, My head Thou dost with oil anoint, And my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my life Shall surely follow me, And in God's house forevermore My dwelling place shall be. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

These words and listen prayerfully, will you I Have a shepherd one. I love so well How he has blessed me tongue can never tell On the cross he suffered shed his blood and died That I might ever in his love confide Following Jesus ever day by day Nothing can harm me when he leads the way Darkness or a sunshine whate'er before Jesus the shepherd is my all in all Pastures abundant doth his hand provide Still waters flowing ever at my side Goodness and mercy follow on my track with such a shepherd Nothing can I lack When I would wander from the path astray Then he will draw me back into the way in the darkest valley. I need fear No ill For he my shepherd Will be with me still When labors ended and the journey done Then he will lead me safely to my home There I shall dwell in rapture sure and sweet with all the loved ones gathered round his feet following Jesus ever day by day Nothing can harm me when he leads the way Darkness or sunshine whate'er before Jesus the shepherd is my all in all Just a moment's reflection and quietness God for our children, but obviously there's Noise in the earlier part of the service, but here's a moment for mature adult minds just to spend We need you Lord We need you like the sheep needed the shepherd in days gone by For our way is often rough Sometimes darkness eclipses the horizon Sometimes we hear in the distance the noise of thunder Sometimes we see the flash of the lightning We're afraid afraid of tomorrow afraid of being unemployed Afraid of being old Afraid of being ill Lord, we're just like sheep So many things cause us to lose our peace But father if if you're there Then all that we don't understand seems to be insignificant Because you're going along with us and the path that we tread you've mapped it out in front of us And if there's one thing that we're asking of you right now It is to be personally aware of the shepherding care of the Lord God of Israel Father draw near to everyone here To those who are baffled by life circumstances To those who related because this has been a good week Whatever our condition meet with us Lord and this day Your day a day above all days lead us into the greenest of pastures and by the stillest of waters and Will you? great God and Father restore our souls and Send us on our way Rejoicing in the goodness of our God for the Savior's sake Amen John 10 1 to 18 I Tell you the truth The man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out When he has brought out all his own he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice But they will never follow a stranger.

In fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them Therefore Jesus said again, I tell you the truth. I am the gate for the sheep All whoever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them I am the gate whoever enters through me will be saved He will come in and go out and find pasture The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and I have it to the full I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep The hard hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep So when he sees the wolf coming he abandons the sheep and runs away Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it The man runs away because he's a hard hand and cares nothing for the sheep I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me Just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. I Have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.

I must bring them also They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life only to 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 authority to take it up again This command I received from my father Amen, but today I want to bring To your attention just a word actually from the 14th verse the 14th and 15th verses of John 10 I've been reflecting on this passage for some while and I had thought that I would Speak on the 11th and 12th verses But I feel inclined to focus our attention on the latter Scriptures I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and My sheep know me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life For the sheep southern Palestine that is Judea Is a very interesting tract of land speaking geographically It's a high plateau And it's not really the sort of ground that lends itself to agriculture It's it's craggy It's rocky It's some 35 miles in length and it varies between 15 to 17 miles in width And when you get to the extreme, it just drops down into cliffs and leads out into a desert That means to say that because it's not given to farming the natural activity for Judea is Pastoral So you will discover if you read through the history of that part of the world That the shepherd became very prominent as a person that you would see on the plateau Now you mustn't think of an English shepherd maybe a Scottish shepherd to some degree with Tracts of lands that don't have walls just surrounding the enclosure The whole thing was open And and the shepherd would be followed by the sheep and and well really to that Flock that didn't have a good shepherd because the land was so very very difficult And so as the centuries went by more and more Preeminence was given to shepherds amongst the history of the people who lived in Judea Now as you will know that the Bible largely finds its history from Judea and also from the northern part of Palestine And because our attention in the Bible geographically is centered in that part of the world Then as you would expect some of the major men whose names fall across the pages of the Old Testament were shepherds Did you appreciate that Abel? The son of Adam was a shepherd Jacob is a shepherd Joseph was originally a shepherd Moses was one of the greatest shepherds of all time David before ever he became king was a shepherd And because this pastoral background was so dominant to the way of life of the people They used to feel that if any man really had all the virtues that a shepherd had in Absolute form he might be their king and so sometimes they would refer to a good shepherd of Israel or a good king of Israel as the shepherd And occasionally and here the metaphor becomes so absolutely wonderful They would think of God in his goodness and his greatness as being like someone who would grant leadership and and safety As a shepherd did and so they would refer to the Lord in terms of the shepherd The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want is perhaps the best example But there's an equally I think wonderful though Perhaps not so well known Scripture that speaks of God a shepherd in the Old Testament in Isaiah 40 and 11 where it says he tends his flock like a shepherd He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.

He gently leads those that have young You see God to these people who lived in Judea Was the great shepherd of the human flock who came to their aid when they were desperately in need Now it might well be that there are people here today Not in an agricultural setting let alone a pastoral setting here on the coastal strip of England here in the town of Worthing Who really need from God all that a good shepherd could give to his flock? Now I'm always amazed when people question the deity of Jesus I Could prove to you time and time again from Scripture from theological argument that Jesus Christ is the second person of the ever-blessed Trinity he has the same quality and the same attributes and the same authority as God the Father And here as we come to John's Gospel in the 10th chapter you get an evidence of this who is referred to as God or Rather as shepherd in the Old Testament none other than the Lord Jehovah Yahweh Yahweh is my shepherd. I shall not want Now here is the Lord Jesus and I speak reverently It would be sheer impudence on his part to teach in terms of him being the Good Shepherd with that biblical and geographical background in the minds of the people without him making the assertion as a Result that he is himself divine He is the Good Shepherd like the shepherd that Israel has known in times gone by but now Manifesting himself to his sheep in a very real in a very personal way And so you find the Lord setting down this lovely promise as he's teaching the disciples and this morning by the miracle of inspiration Teaching us here in the tabernacle. I am the Good Shepherd and I know my sheep My dear friend if there's anything in the world that you need It's the shepherding care and love of the Lord Jesus Christ So let's look simply at those verses Here is a confession.

I am the Good Shepherd Jesus repeats it three times you find a Double repetition in the 11th verse, don't you the Good Shepherd the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep I find this most interesting. You see the Lord doesn't use the title the Son of Man Don't misunderstand me he uses it, of course, but he never uses it in a triplet He never says I am the Son of Man. I am the Son of Man.

I am the Son of Man He uses a title Messiah, but again, he never repeats it There are many ways in which he uses to express who he is But it seems as though the choicest of all the one that really captured his attention Was that the imagery of the shepherd here is Jesus speaking and he's the subject of the speech Here is Jesus singing and he's the subject of the song. I am the Good Shepherd Or if you want me to be very academic this morning, I am the shepherd the good. I am the shepherd Says the original the God Now there are many ways At least there are several ways in the Greek language in which you can express what is good.

There's a clinical goodness There's an academic goodness But then there's a goodness the like of which I used as an illustration the other Sunday evening when I spoke of the woman who came and broke her her box of alabaster and poured the appointment the ointment on the feet of the Lord and Anointed his body and Jesus said she has done a good thing And I said you could almost translate that with a Scottish term. She's done a bonny thing Because it's that super bounding goodness a goodness that's more than just academic and clinical a Goodness that super abundance and this is the word that Jesus particularly uses. I am the the Good Shepherd I'm the bonny shepherd Why is he? particularly The Good Shepherd.

Why does he make this confession? Well, you see it's important to Jesus to own a flock of sheep You see the shepherd in Palestinian days he was usually the owner either by purchase or by inheritance of the flock He didn't superintend. He wasn't under the employment of some other Director some other owner in Jerusalem. He generally controlled what he led The the Latin word for sheep is very much close to the Latin word for money because very often in in older days what you possessed was how you Indicated your wealth a Shepherd is not wealthy because he's got thousands of shekels in the National Israeli Bank in Jerusalem He's wealthy because of the sheep that he's got now.

Here is our Lord Jesus and He owns his sheep He refers or it is said of him in in Ephesians. He has an inheritance And by here the inheritance Paul is referring to none other than you and I if we belong to the Lord Jesus as Savior he speaks of the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints Jesus Christ. I speak reverently And I speak thoughtfully has no greater wealth in this world than you The Bible says in the Old Testament and I'm using the authorized versions translation Speaking of our Lord Jesus on a day that's yet to be He will make up his jewels and by jewels The term is is referring to to those who belong to him to those who come under his control The Good Shepherd is the owner of the sheep But not only is he the owner of the sheep and that's the reason why Jesus likes the metaphor so much He's the leader of the sheep As I indicated to you in in in those days and indeed today obviously because the geography of the place hasn't changed It was absolutely necessary for the shepherd to lead the sheep.

Sheep are dumb animals There's hardly anything that's more stupid than the sheep apart from a human being And if the sheep need a shepherd, how much more do we need a shepherd? Now there's a lovely reference which I only came across at least it only Took my attention for the first time last night to Moses in Exodus chapter 3 where we're told in the first verse now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and Came to Horeb the mountain of God Moses led the flock to the mountain of God And I don't want to strain scripture and take it out of its context, but isn't that what Jesus has come to do? He is our Moses who leads us his flock to the place where God makes himself known You know, there's a Jewish legend about Moses I wonder if you've ever come across this, but Moses was at one stage having left Egypt because he'd killed a man He was at one stage in the employment of his father-in-law Jethro and his job. Well, it was that of a shepherd And so the legend so the story goes Moses on one occasion followed a little sheep Who left the flock that he was tending And he eventually got the sheep it went out towards the ravine and it stopped and it drank and Moses went a long way to Get this sheep back and when he saw the little fellow having a drink He he said I didn't know you were thirsty and that's the reason why you left the flock Now you must be very tired So he took the little lamb and he placed him around his Shoulders with the feet dangling either side of his neck and brought him back to the flock According to the lovely Jewish fable God said to Moses because you have been so concerned about the lamb of a flock Belonging to another man You are qualified to be the leader of my flock to take my people from Egypt a lovely story perhaps not true But very truthfully and literally illustrated in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ who comes into this world to lead people who so definitely need to be led Now it's not easy for a shepherd to lead sheep for the same reason as I've just indicated they tend to be rather dumb And the story is told of a Palestinian shepherd who one day had the problem of getting his flock Across a brook the brook was rather strong in its in its flow Because of the time of the year and none of the sheep wanted to follow the shepherd who'd already traversed the brook So the shepherd came back and he took one baby sheep one lamb From the flock and he carried it across the brook and when the mother saw where her young was She scampered across the brook and when the others saw what the mother was doing they followed too Leading a flock is not easy. It's not easy as a shepherd.

It's not easy as a pastor I speak reverently. It's not easy for the Lord Because some of us have to confess even though we acknowledge the imagery that we are sheep That we have a tendency to wander away prone to wander Lord. I feel it prone to leave the God I love So our Savior says look I'm the shepherd The good shepherd and I own you You're my flock.

I want to lead you I Want to guard you you see it was so imperative that the sheep in in Palestine were looked after by a careful shepherd That's why there's a distinction drawn in this passage between a good shepherd and a hireling a hireling only cares for his wages a good Shepherd what he cares for the sheep You see the Palestinian shepherd kept his sheep for a long time by and large with some exception by and large large They weren't reared for meat They were reared for for wool and therefore you could be a member of the other flock of a shepherd for many years Now some of us can get rather Close to our animals and those who are not animal lovers think that we're really quite strange What well the shepherds thank God they were in that strange category. They had such an affinity with their sheep and They were very concerned for the sheep and for their welfare. There are stories replete in Jewish history of shepherds who Who risked their lives for the sheep David being one instance? I remember earlier on in the reading The ninth verse the Lord says I am the gate.

I think the authorized version translates it I am the door and the idea is of the shepherd out on the hills He can't get back to the village where there's a common pen. He's out on the hills where there's a where there's a crude Sheep fold that's been constructed and he's got all the sheep going into the fold Now he wants to stop the sheep from coming out of the fold during the hours of the night when it will be dangerous How does he do it? Well, there's no door no literal door and yet there is because the shepherd will lie down in front of the door and in a very In front of the gap and in a very real way the shepherd can say I am the door No one can get in without my permission No one can get out Without my permission. I think it's lovely that Jesus said I am the door I'm glad he didn't say I'm the passage So I was brought up in in Sheffield where if you've ever seen the pictures of Coronation Street on the television Well, we got houses like that by the thousand and you get into the house by going down a passage That's all right during the day.

But at night it's a little bit Frightening a Passage means a long walk at least a fairly long walk, but but a door well, you're there you throw it open and you're there instantly and Jesus says as far as the sheep are concerned I I Am the door. Do you know one thing that the shepherd never had that we see today? I love some television programs particularly one man and his dog I'd love to have a dog, but my cats wouldn't very much appreciate the invasion Isn't it marvelous the affinity of the shepherd and the dog but but there was no dog in Palestine shepherd didn't have a sheepdog there What the shepherd had was a sling in fact, he had several pieces of equipment there was this there was his staff There was his there was his rod There was a script and there was the sling and the the sling was like a catapult Bit a bit less sophisticated But but the shepherd would be a crack shot with his sling Judges says there's a reference in judges that says of a shepherd He could put a pebble in his sling and he could split a hair at some distance And if a sheep was was was moving away out of the range of the flock and the shepherd didn't like it he'd get his sling and he'd plant a Stone about three inches in front of the sheep's nose and the sheep will get his direction See a shepherd was so concerned for the welfare of his sheep This is why this metaphor is perhaps so so popular to the Lord Jesus. I am the good shepherd the confession that he makes But there's more than confession here.

There's comprehension, isn't there? I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep. I For us who've got very little understanding of pastoral life to distinguish between one sheep and another but the shepherd could In Palestine, they have special names for the sheep.

Well, not particularly special, but they had appropriate names black leg or bitty ears or what? Have you? How would you describe the ministry of Jesus Now when he when he was starting off in in his in his ministry, how would you describe it? Well, you say he's a teacher starting to teach and you're right He was a healer starting to heal, but wouldn't it also be true to say that he was a shepherd starting to call Peter John Come and follow me. I think that's incredible there. They were I mean Peter is it's quite a wealthy man He's got a business going probably John has got connections in Jerusalem.

It seems from some researches I've been doing into some recent writing that that John came from a very well-to-do family who had a fishing business in Galilee and also Means of selling fish in in Jerusalem, but let that pass Jesus comes along and he says to these two men follow me And they hear They respond John Calvin talked about irresistible grace. There's a there's an illustration of it. Jesus speaks and the sheep come Now no, he wasn't just in for fishermen their tax collectors civil servants.

They need to come as well only So he says Matthew come And then other people who are born rather unfortunately short of stature, but sometimes it's terribly difficult being born bigger stature I've got so much in my scalp in my garage when I forget to duck my head But I wish that sometimes I was a as small as my dad was So here's the kiss and he's up a tree and he's hidden by the foliage But he's not hidden from Jesus and Jesus as a kiss come down and follow me There's a kiss does that he knows? He knows his voice and he follows it Lazarus come forth and Lazarus the man who's been entombed moves out from the domain of the dead and he he comes forth why because the shepherd is Called and no one calls like this shepherd and when he calls they respond, but there's something else here That's so precious to me. And this really is a hot thought because it only came about nine o'clock I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the father knows me. Isn't that rich? Who knew the Lord Jesus more than anyone else on earth the father? Throughout the whole of our Lord's public ministry.

The father is surveying the scene Occasionally he he breaks out from heaven so to speak with his voice and he's and and he addresses those who are in attendance on Jesus and he says, you know, this is my son my beloved son in whom I'm well, please There was such an empathy between the Lord Jesus and the father It was never broken that relationship not until our Lord divested himself of his righteousness on the cross And Jesus uses the the example of the most intimate relationship that the universe has ever known as the father knows me So I know my sheep If he hadn't have said it, we wouldn't have believed it, would we? So here's a frail person in the tab this morning and finding it very hard and God bless our elderly with people We do thank God for them He knows you It was all about your body's condition He knows you in the same way as the father knew him. Here's a young fellow and he's out of the distant Part of the pasture. In fact, it's not really pastures onto the mountains.

It's craggy. It's rocky It's difficult and here's a lion and he comes along and he gets the the young chap He shouldn't have been there and the lion takes him and he shakes him shakes almost every every bit of life out of him And the shepherd comes along and he uses his club and he says get off. This is my sheep Isn't that what the Lord Jesus does? That's what the shepherd did You see he knows He knows the very thing that attracts you Out of the area where it's safe The incredible thing about the Good Shepherd is he knows the sheep not because of their perfection but because of their imperfection You see those whom he foreknew says Paul writing to the Romans those he predestinated he knew all about us Somebody has said it's it's nice that you can choose your relatives your friends, but you're saddled with your relatives You you don't always have a choice do you of the people who are closest to you by blood They'll thank God many of us praise the Lord for for for our relatives But but would you choose a relative who you knew was going to do foul things to you Would you choose for a member of your family circle somebody who is going to let you down? But but this is what the Good Shepherd has done He knew all about his sheep the difficulties of having that lot in his flock and yet he says come on He knows all about us And what's more within the comprehension of the our Lord Jesus is the thought that he knows that we know Isn't that what it says? I am the Good Shepherd.

I know my sheep and my sheep know me and we do don't we? Even though sometimes we're prone as I say to wonder even though sometimes we play fast and loose with him when he really calls Even though we've been out of the range Or seemingly service call for a long time When the prodigal is away in the far country when the sheep is on the crags where it's Where it's so dangerous He'll call and he'll bring him by You see he's not gonna lose his sheep Not only does he know our imperfections. He knows the number of sheep that belong to him That's why our Lord Jesus spells out that the parable of the of the Shepherd who had one sheep missing from the hundred who of whom was Jesus speaking was speaking of himself He won't be satisfied with the ninety-nine. He's died for the hundred There's an innumerable company of people for whom our shepherd has shed his blood and all those people Must come to him all that the father has given me Will come to me and so our Lord Reveals in this statement.

It's not only a confession. I am the Good Shepherd But also he makes us aware of his Comprehension. I know my sheep and my sheep will know me as Mary knew me when I said her voice Mary and she said in The garden Rabboni her eyes had been bejeweled by tears and they were blinded But when I spoke then she heard me and she came to me and confessed That I'm Rabboni the master that we must hasten on My sheep know me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I Laid down my life for the sheep.

Here's condescension. I Lay down my life for the sheep Three or four times in those next two or three verses our Lord repeats the same expression that Muslim theologian that I quoted Last week around the communion table What on earth did he make of John 10 and verses 14 through to 18 when he was suggesting that Jesus had got no intention to die He tells us on three or four occasions about laying down his life for his sheep within the compass of those those few verses I Lay down my life for the sheep. That means in effect if I translate the Greek word Hooper I lay down my life instead of the sheep instead of the sheep This is the concern of the shepherd to be so concerned This was the task of the shepherd to be so concerned for the sheep that even if it meant giving his life He would do so And the shepherd gives his life for the sheep Not because he's caught in some situation over which he doesn't have control not this shepherd You see it doesn't just say I die it says I lay down my life for the sheep This is something that he he realizes he's entering into he doesn't go himself as a dumb animal Rather his life is taken from him Because he is prepared to accept that this is the only way the sheep Can be spared There's a story told I think it was in the French Revolution Which highlights the point There was a young fellow and in battle.

He was in great difficulty And and and he came back to his particular camp and his arm was smashed and the surgeon had to operate and Afterwards the surgeon said I'm sorry lad you've lost your limb and The soldier said no, sir. I Did not lose it. I Gave it for France.

Our Lord. Jesus did not lose his life He gave it the good shepherd He gives his life So that the sheep might be saved and outside of the good shepherds Concern for the sheep then there would be no hope for those dumb animals whatsoever Now I'm through look you need a shepherd We all need shepherds shepherding There were those sheep on that high plateau in Judea and They couldn't cope on their own If they tried they'd have been in a mess. They wouldn't have lasted very long And Jesus said when he looks upon humanity as He came into this world.

He saw ordinary folk like you and me a sheep without a shepherd And he said look Here I am. I Mean what would be an ex astonishing piece of boastfulness if he were less than he is He makes the assertion. I am the shepherd the good shepherd The bonnie shepherd Who comes for you? my flock to lead you To guard you.

I'm the shepherd who allows you to know me and I know you With the same degree as of intimacy as a father Knows me and that's for my love It's so deep That the time came when having divested myself of everything I could give you I gave my life and From the cross I cried my God my God. Why have you forsaken me? None of the ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed? How dark was the night the Lord went through? to find the sheep That was lost That's what Jesus did for you and that's why his most favorite metaphor in Describing his life and his achievement on planet earth is That of the good shepherd Amen Let's enjoy singing of our shepherd the words of the hymn that Charles Wesley gave us Jesus the name high over all in hell or earth or sky 127 let's really sing this hymn with the same fervor as the Old Methodists as they were caught up in the movement of the revival of God's Spirit in the 18th century 1 2 7 Oh And Father that's so much the desire of our heart We thank you that in one sense Our Lord is both shepherd and lamb in as much as he gave his life as a lamb is slaughtered but willingly for us and our concern having entered into the security of going beyond the door that he represents is that others also might come and find that rest and Nestle under his protection. So father help us help us in our evangelism this afternoon help us in our lives May they be evangelical in every area and we pray father that your blessing the blessing of the triune God might rest and remain with us and make us Fit to take these emblems in remembrance of him