Is The Lord Your Good Shepherd?

after I read these verses, I'll say,

this is the word of the Lord, and you can respond,

thanks be to God.

And as I read this and you follow along,

remember this is the inspired, inerrant, infallible,

clear and sufficient word of God himself.

John 10.

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 of 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 strangers.

This figure of speech Jesus used with them,

but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So, Jesus said again to them,

truly, truly, I say to you,

I am the door of the sheep.

All who come 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 kill and 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.

The wolf snatches 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 have laid down my life for the sheep.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God.

Indeed, you may be seated.

Let's pray.

Prepare our hearts, O God,

to accept your word.

Silence in us any voices but your own.

Cause us to hear your voice,

and as we hear,

help us to follow you.

For Christ's sake, amen.

Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I need to ask you this question today.

Is the Lord your good shepherd?

Lord your good shepherd.

There was a tour guide in Israel

who had taken some people from churches like this one

to see the land

and to see these locations

that we read about in our Bibles.

The tour guide had just told them

how you can always tell in the pasture

who is the shepherd of each flock,

and it's because the shepherd will be out in front,

and the sheep will be following the call,

the voice of the shepherd.

And right as he said this,

the story goes,

he looked out,

and there was a pasture

and sheep running, scattering,

and the man chasing behind them.

So it seemed to not fit.

So the tour guide asked the translator

who was local,

he knew the farmers

and knew the shepherds

and knew the area,

said,

I thought the shepherd was always out in front.

Why is that man chasing that flock?

And the local guy just grinned and said,

that's not the shepherd,

that's the butcher.

Well, when you and I were little,

we knew that we needed shepherding.

We knew that we needed someone to care for us,

to feed us,

to protect us.

We were happy to admit that.

We would cry for it.

We would ask for that.

But as we grow older and older,

we learn to become more independent,

and that's good,

but we become self-reliant as well.

So we start to think we don't need

any kind of shepherding.

On top of that,

we have to go through hard things in life.

There's a loss of innocence.

There's pain.

There's injury.

And sometimes that even comes from

those who should be shepherds.

Maybe you're going through something like that right now,

even a boss or a teacher or a coach,

maybe even a relative.

Supposed to be in that role of caring

and shepherding and protecting,

but instead is hurting very deeply.

See, the people of Israel,

they were ready to be out from under Rome,

and they were sick of the religious leaders

who were abusing them.

They were greedy, these religious leaders.

They were tax collectors.

They were doing exchanging of money

and basically selling out

what God intended to be

a sacrificial system to minister grace

to those who have faith.

And they were ready to be independent,

to be out from under these bad leaders.

When our Lord Jesus took on the flesh

and walked throughout Israel,

He was coming to fulfill what God had promised all along.

I've come to the conclusion

that we will not get the full depth of meaning of John 10

unless we also have Ezekiel chapter 34 in mind.

Ezekiel 34 · chapter mention

And it's too much for me to exposit that chapter.

But I do encourage you,

if you've got a Bible,

turn to Ezekiel chapter 34,

Ezekiel 34 · chapter mention

keep your finger there,

and be ready to flip back and forth

as much as you would like.

See, in chapter 10 of John,

we read that

some who heard the teaching of Jesus,

giving this analogy,

this figure of speech

about the sheepfold and the shepherd,

some of them said,

a man that teaches like that

cannot be possessed by demons.

That's what it says in John 10, 24.

These words are from God.

We know that.

This is from the true God.

They said on top of that,

a man who can heal a man born blind from birth,

that has to be from God as well.

That can't be the work of a demon.

So by the end of this teaching in verse 21,

we know it's the same audience

as the chapter that came right before it.

So to really make sense,

I think as well,

we need to ramp into this text

that we just read

by doing a brief review

of the contrast from chapter 9

that we saw last time.

In chapter 9,

we saw how the religious elite

had cast out the man born blind.

They only gave that man the law.

He's unclean.

He's fit.

He's broken.

He's going to be in the dust as a beggar.

But Christ found that man.

Remember,

he went out and found him

after he had been excommunicated,

and Christ gave that man grace.

The religious elite

presumed to be God's spokesmen.

They presumed to rule over,

to rule above Christ and the people.

But when Christ showed up,

he spoke,

and God's people followed him.

The religious elite

pretended to be shepherds of God's sheep,

but they did not know their own need.

That wasn't a problem

for the blind man, was it?

He knew his need.

And the Lord met him.

The religious elite drove

that poor beggar away from God,

but Christ made that blind man close.

In Isaiah chapter 40, verse 11,

Isaiah 40:11

the promise comes of the Messiah.

When he shows up, the Savior,

he will tend his flock like a shepherd.

He will gather the lambs in his arms.

He will carry them in his bosom,

and he will gently lead them.

That's exactly what our Lord Jesus did

to that blind man.

And now with the same audience

gathering around him,

Jesus sets up this word picture.

If you look on chapter 10,

the first six verses,

it just tells us this familiar scene.

He's painting a picture with his words,

isn't he?

He says,

there's a sheepfold,

verse 1,

and that sheepfold has a door.

Let me describe what this would be.

To them, it's a very familiar image,

but we need to understand

what they were picturing.

A sheepfold was made

by collecting stones

of different sizes.

Those stones were cemented together

to form a wall,

and that wall would have come up

about waist high.

And the wall would form a circle.

Sometimes it was not too big,

but other times it could be pretty big

to the point where more than one flocks

and more than one shepherds

could bring their sheep into the fold.

And this wall didn't have any windows

or other doors except for one opening,

and that was called the door of the sheepfold.

So the purpose of the sheepfold

was to bring the flocks in

from the pastures at nighttime,

bring them all in here

so they're safe,

circled around this stone wall.

And then during the daytime

when the sun's out

and the predators have gone

to hibernate and nap,

then the sheep can come back out

through the door

and they can go and enjoy the grass.

So oftentimes the shepherds

would also hire someone

to watch over them

so that at nighttime

the shepherds could sleep

so that they could be alert

during the day

to watch them in the pasture.

And so then the person they hired,

that hired hand,

would be in charge of these flocks.

Here's these three shepherds

that brought their flocks to me.

They're going to pay me

to keep an eye

while they're not here.

So you see now,

in their context,

that's what our Lord Jesus set up.

Now, this wall is not very high.

Someone could jump over the fence

and then pretend

to be one of those shepherds.

You know, they could put something

over their head

and there was one way

that a hired hand could tell.

As that shepherd starts

calling out the sheep,

walking out through the door,

do any of the sheep

follow that shepherd?

See, sheep have a fear

built into them

and they would not follow

a shepherd they didn't know.

So this was their system.

And even as I'm describing this,

you might be thinking,

we're in 2023.

We go to the grocery store

and buy our food.

We don't keep our money in a herd.

We put our money in banks.

And so why is this figure of speech

relevant to us still today?

Well, Peter says to the church

that Jesus Christ

is the chief shepherd of your souls.

And he's writing to an urban church.

And the church of God

throughout all the generations,

ancient Israel,

has always,

you're going to see the language

we've always been referred to

as God's flock.

So our task today

is to try to take,

look, verse 6,

it's a figure of speech.

To take all that God intended

by this beautiful, rich,

humble figure of speech.

And ask for the Holy Spirit

to teach you,

teach me to receive

all the richness here for me.

from this.

So the first thing

I want to point out is this,

that you and I,

we need protection,

just like a sheep.

We need protection

from thieves

that act as shepherds.

That's what our Lord says

in verse 1.

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.

So the sheepfold,

what is the sheepfold?

This analogy,

this figure of speech

is tricky, isn't it?

Well,

later on in the same chapter,

our Lord Jesus

is going to say,

I have other sheep

that are not of this fold.

And who is he talking about?

He's talking about

the Gentiles.

Yeah,

about those that are

not of Israel.

So the sheepfold,

he says in verse 1,

the sheepfold

that he's talking about,

this is Israel.

And what does it mean

to enter,

as part of God's people,

enter Israel

by another way

other than what God

has called for?

I believe that there's

a couple layers here.

Let me see if I can

make this clear.

So the sheepfold,

God has hedged in.

He's given his law

and his commandments

and he's given the prophecies

that will make really clear

to Israel

who the Messiah is.

And the Messiah will meet

and surpass all of the promises

that national Israel

ever received.

So,

it would be impossible

for any other nation

that didn't have

the Old Testament,

the Old Covenant,

to recognize the Messiah.

He would come first

under the law

from Israel,

from the seed

of Abraham.

Not the seed of Adam,

generally like all the nations.

He would come

from the seed of Abraham.

Abraham.

And God himself

would take on flesh.

And he would come

from the seed of Abraham.

That's also then,

that picture,

it's amplified with David.

He would be a shepherd

and a king.

And he would rule

and God would speak

through him

the words of life

like David the great psalmist.

And so Jesus would come

from that line

through the sheepfold

in the right way.

But there's also

a contrast being set up.

Think about

those books of the Bible

that we've gone through

on Friday nights.

What is the purpose

of 1 and 2 Kings

and Chronicles?

What is the purpose

of those books?

It shows us that

God is lifting up

the ideal king.

And man,

after man in Israel,

falls short

of that ideal.

There is no king,

no man,

no mere man

can fulfill

all that God

requires

of the king of Israel.

But there will be one.

All the promises

and blessings

attached to Abraham,

to Isaac,

to Jacob,

to David,

fulfilling all

that God has promised

way back for me,

that will be fulfilled

in one great king,

the Messiah.

So when Jesus says,

all those who have

come before me

were thieves and robbers,

all those other kings

of Israel,

they were falling short

of that glorious standard.

They were incapable

of caring for the soul

of God's people

the way only God

himself could.

In Ezekiel 34,

Ezekiel 34:1–4

verses 1-4,

we read this.

And if you want

to look there,

you can.

Ezekiel 34,

1-4.

Let me give you context.

Who is Ezekiel?

Ezekiel was a priest

of Israel,

and he was carried away

by Nebuchadnezzar,

same time as Daniel.

So you read of Daniel

and the Hebrews

being carried off.

Well, Ezekiel was a prophet

writing to Israel

from exile,

carried away.

And listen to what God said.

This is why judgment came.

This is why the people of God

were drug out of their land.

You shepherds

have been feeding yourselves.

You should,

should not shepherds

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

over them.

Israel has failed.

The leaders of Israel

came short

of the glorious calling

that God gave them.

But the good news

is that from within Israel,

from that line of Abraham,

the line of David,

would come Jesus Christ,

the shepherd,

the king,

to rule over them.

See,

the contrast that

Ezekiel 34 is describing,

he's describing shepherds

that are using the sheep.

And to the Jewish here,

the shepherd,

it would have been a picture

of a warmth relationship.

They were not like,

like the chickens

that get sent

to Kentucky Fried Chicken today

where they're just on a,

you know,

assembly line

to be devoured.

No,

these sheep,

they would have lived

an entire lifetime

with the people,

with the shepherd.

You know,

the shepherd would have

milked them

every single day

to enjoy sheep

and goat milk.

They would have enjoyed

using the wool

for their own clothing.

Look how close

they're living.

We saw how the shepherds

would bring them in

in the winter.

They would actually

share the warmth

of a cave or a space

together like that.

You know,

as the shepherd's family grows,

they have their first child

and second child.

They need more money.

They need more food.

Well,

those lambs are giving birth

and they're raising up

other lambs

and their flock is growing

just as the shepherd's

own family is growing.

That would have been

the picture.

But yet,

Ezekiel said,

Israel,

your shepherds,

the leaders over God's people,

they've just been using

and abusing God's people.

So let me pause here

for us application as well.

It's that

the heart of God to you

is the heart

of a caring shepherd.

He brings you near him.

He brings you

into his family.

That's what Jesus is showing.

He says,

your soul needs

the shepherding care

of one who is with you.

He wants you to be

so close to him.

You need to be doing life

with your shepherd.

When you look to God,

he is not the shepherd

who will abuse you.

He is the shepherd

who will provide for you.

He will heal you

in every way

that you need it.

When the Lord

is your shepherd,

you will fear no evil.

He makes you to lie down

and to peace

and to sleep.

And this is true

no matter where you end up

in this world.

When I thought of

this wonderful promise

that when the true shepherd

is near you,

you can rest.

You will be safe.

I thought of this pastor,

a man who got saved

in Medellin, Colombia.

And he was living

in one of the most dangerous

prisons in Colombia.

But the Lord saved him.

He heard the gospel.

It was through

a missionary woman

who was there all alone,

very brave missionary.

And he would get

life threats

even while he was sleeping

in the cells at night.

He couldn't lay down

and sleep

because someone

might want to kill him

because of the drug cartels

and what he had done

in his life.

But when the Lord

saved him,

he said he had never

slept so well.

And he knew

the Lord was with him

because even in that prison,

they started a Bible study

and every Lord's Day

they would gather

a very small group of them

and they became

a little church.

You fast forward

several decades,

that man was there

lifetime sentence

but he was a pastor

of this little church

inside one of the most

dangerous prisons

of Medellin, Colombia

because the Lord

was his shepherd.

He didn't need to fear

the evil of man anymore.

So you need protection.

You need protection

from false shepherds

and the Lord's presence

is your protection.

I want to look at verse 12

because there's one other threat

that the Lord talks about

that we need to pay attention

to as well.

Look at verse 12.

Verse 12 he says,

he who is a hired hand

sees the wolf coming

and leaves the sheep

and flees

and the wolf snatches them

and scatters them.

Let me ask you this,

what time of the day

do you picture a wolf

attacking the sheep

in this sheepfold?

They go into the sheepfold

at night time, right?

And that's when predators

love to attack.

When all the animals are still,

the wolf would try

to sneak up.

But think about this,

the wolf in the sheepfold,

even if the wolf

could jump over this wall,

probably could,

and kill a lamb,

the wolf couldn't drag

that lamb out,

not up and over the wall.

They would have still had

to go through the door.

And if it's just a hired hand

sitting there

and he sees a wolf

coming up to intimidate him,

those eyes of the wolf

at night

and you're all alone,

the other shepherds

are all getting their sleep,

that hired hand

is out of there.

They're not paying me

near enough

to do this job.

So then picture the shepherd.

You show up on the scene

the next day,

there's blood

all over the sheepfold

and you can just tell

a wolf has been here.

And that hired hand

is nowhere to be found.

He collected maybe

half the money

and he's out of there.

Well, that would be

the scene that would be

very familiar

that our Lord

is warning against.

And Ezekiel 34

Ezekiel 34:5

verses 5 and 7

say the same thing

that the sheep of God

were scattered

because there was no shepherd

and they became food

for all the wild beasts.

Remember,

Ezekiel is writing

because Israel

had been carried off

into Assyria and Babylon.

My sheep were scattered.

My sheep have become a prey

and my sheep have become food

for all the wild beasts

since there was no shepherd

and because my shepherds

have not searched

for my sheep

but the shepherds

have fed themselves

and have not fed

my sheep.

See, every other king

of Israel

was like a hired hand.

The people were not

their own.

They were abusing

the people

for their own gain.

But the Lord refers

to his people

as his own.

These are mine

and even though

they've been scattered

I will go gather

all of them

and I will bring them

back to me.

In verse 13

Jesus said

he flees

because he is

a hired hand.

He cares nothing

for the sheep.

Well, the stern warning

had been prophesied as well.

Zechariah 11, 17

says,

Woe to my worthless shepherd

who deserts the flock.

In Acts 7, 54

we get a picture

of what it was like

at the time of Christ.

These hired hands

who didn't really care

for the flock.

And listen to how similar

they're described

to a wolf.

Acts 7, 54

when these same

religious elite

standing there

heard Stephen's sermon.

Remember Stephen

the first martyr?

The Lord saved him.

He was serving

the Greek widows

serving as a deacon

a servant of the church

and he preached

the gospel

and he told them

Israel

you have lost sight

of the Messiah

who was to come.

And he tells them

the same message

but Jesus fulfills it

and by grace

he came to save you.

Well, when they heard this

they're described this way

they were enraged.

Enraged.

Picture that snarling wolf

and they ground

their teeth

at Stephen.

See, these wolves

these elite

would come to devour

the church.

The church would

undergo persecution

and Jesus is warning them

when this happens

I am still with you church.

I am with you spiritually.

I do not abandon

my own.

What does this look like

in our lives today?

Well, if you have a loved one

which we all do

and your loved one

suffers some great injustice

which we all go through

don't you want sometimes

just so badly

to try to get vengeance

or try to take

some measure of justice

into your own hands?

The encouragement

we have here

is that

the Lord

knows the wolf.

The Lord

sees the injustice

that's inflicted

on his sheep

his people

and he wants you

to look to him

the shepherd.

It's his rod

and it's his staff

that will enact

judgment

when the time is right.

His rod

and his staff

let them comfort you.

When the Lord

is your shepherd

he protects you.

He leads you

beside still waters

and he restores

your soul.

He puts balm

inside those

fang marks

those wounds

from a wolf

and he heals you.

He pours the gentle

water of his spirit

and his word

over your soul.

Have you experienced

that type of healing

from your shepherd?

Praise be to God.

But this is only true

if the Lord

is your good shepherd.

That type of

restoration

and abundant life

can only come

if he is your

good shepherd.

Look at verse 2.

He who enters

by the door

is the shepherd

of the sheep.

Jesus Christ

came fulfilling

all of the promises

given to Israel.

He fulfills

all of the promises

of scripture.

They all find

their yes

and amen

in Jesus.

He came in

in the light of day

teaching openly

the gospel

of the kingdom

of heaven.

He came in

through the door

into the fold

to call

his own

and to call

all those

from other folds

so they would

follow him.

See the good shepherd

he says

he is the door.

He is the door

of your salvation.

Look at verse 3.

To him

the gatekeeper

opens.

He entered

redemptive history

according to scripture.

Now look at verse 7.

Jesus again said

to them

he's explaining

this analogy

truly truly

I say to you

I am

the door

of the sheep.

I was stumped

on this one.

I had to

dig

and get some help.

So you remember

I described

the sheep fold

as having

only one opening

just that

that continuous

wall in a circle.

When the shepherd

didn't hire

a hired hand

when it was

the shepherd himself

watching the flock

at night

where do you think

he would be?

He would sit

right there

at the opening

right?

He would sit

there at the opening

he could lean back

and he could keep

one eye on the sheep

one eye

for those

yellow eyes

of predators

that might be

creeping up

from the wilderness

and he would

watch over

his sheep.

The shepherd

himself

is the door.

There is no way

for a thief

or for a wolf

to get these sheep

if the shepherd

himself

is their door.

Jesus

is the door

of our

salvation.

I want to read

to you

how our

confession of faith

the second London

puts this.

how does

this Holy Spirit

cause you

to enjoy

Jesus

as the door

of your salvation?

This is what we

call the effectual

call.

It's when the

shepherd's voice

goes out

the sheep

know that voice

and the shepherd

calling his sheep

all those that

belong to him

will follow him

through the door

of salvation.

Our confession

says

it's when you

savingly come

to understand

the things of God

by taking away

your heart of stone

and God gives you

a heart of flesh.

God renews

your will

and by his

almighty power

he effectually

draws you

to Jesus.

Yet so as

you come most

freely

being made

willing

by his grace.

See what a

kind shepherd

he is.

He gives the

sheep a heart

to follow him

so that he

goes out in front

and they

willingly

follow the

sound of

his voice.

Look at verse

9.

Jesus says

if anyone

enters by me

he will be

saved and

will go in

and out

and find

pasture.

The sheep

fold is just

to keep you

safe from the

wolf at night

and from thieves

but during the

daytime

he doesn't

cage you in.

He says

here are my

green pastures.

Feast.

Go live

abundantly.

Enjoy.

Enjoy all

that I have

for you.

And I'll

call you.

You'll stay

near my

voice.

You'll hear

me.

You'll walk

with me.

I will lead

you in this

life abundant.

You will go

in and out

and you will

have life.

You will

thrive under

my shepherding

care.

See that's

the promise

that he's

fulfilling from

Ezekiel 34

Ezekiel 34:14

verse 14.

God himself

said 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

mountain.

You have

life abundant

when you're

following the

voice of your

shepherd.

He keeps

you safe

and he also

allows you to

thrive, to

grow.

on those

hardest moments

in life when

we need to

go in and

out of that

fold, don't

we?

When a loved

one has

cancer and

is going in

for a fourth

round of

chemo, we

want to come

back inside

the fold.

We want to

huddle up

close with

our shepherd,

know that

he's watching

over us.

You want to

know that all

those that

you love are

inside the

fold, belonging

to his

flock.

You want

to know that

once again,

he will give

you the

peace and

settle you.

He will

keep his

watchful,

compassionate,

and all

powerful rod

and staff

protecting you,

looking over

you.

But again,

the safety of

going in and

out through

the door of

his salvation,

it's only good

for those who

follow his

voice.

See, Jesus

is the gate.

He is the

good shepherd.

Only for

those who

follow his

voice.

Look at

verse 3.

It says,

to the

shepherd,

the true

shepherd,

the gatekeeper

opens.

So the

watchman is

there,

the true

shepherd arrives,

he's going to

call out his

own.

Look at

verse 4.

When he

has brought

out all

of his

own,

he goes

before them,

out in

front,

and the

sheep follow

him,

for they

know his

voice.

Verse 5,

a stranger

they will

not follow,

but they

will flee

from him,

for they

do not

know the

voice of

strangers.

Ezekiel 34,

Ezekiel 34:10

verse 10,

Jesus said,

I will

rescue my

sheep from

the mouths

of the

greedy,

false

shepherds.

If you

follow Christ,

you know

his voice,

you know

when you

hear truth

from his

word,

and you

know when

you can

take the

step of

obedience

that God

is calling

you to

take,

it's because

his spirit

is calling

you.

There will

be a moment

in your

life,

if you

are already

saved,

there will

be another

sweet moment

when you

receive a

gift from

the Lord,

and it's

the gift

of assurance.

And all

those who

are saved

ought to

desire to

have assurance

of your

salvation.

But our

temptation is

going to be

to look at

my own

life.

Am I a

sheep?

Do I belong

to Christ

because I'm

a good

enough

sheep?

Isn't

that how

we always

want to

think?

Maybe if I

could just

walk around

with a better

posture,

maybe if I

could perk

my ears up,

I'm trying

to think

what a

sheep would

want to

do to

impress

the shepherd.

Isn't

that how

we want

to live

our lives?

But here's

where your

assurance

comes from

according to

our Lord

in this

chapter.

And I

want you

to see

this for

yourselves.

So take

your finger

and touch

verse 3.

I'm going

to ask you

some questions.

First of

all,

which sheep

follow the

shepherd?

According to

verse 3,

which sheep

follow the

shepherd?

The ones

he calls

by name.

Do you see

that?

The ones

he calls

by name.

And so

then the next

question is,

well,

which sheep

does the

Lord call

by name?

Yeah,

you had it,

Ken.

Look at

verse 3.

Which ones

does he

call by name?

His own

sheep.

his own

sheep he

calls

by name.

Now,

let's try

to catch

up,

okay?

What we've

seen in

John so

far is

this.

In

John

John 6:37

chapter 6,

verse 37,

Jesus said,

all that the

Father gives

me,

all that the

Father gives

me will

come to

me.

And whoever

comes to

me,

I will

never

cast out.

In

John 6,

39,

Jesus says,

it is God's

will that

I should

lose

nothing of

all that

he has

given me,

but raise

it up on

the last

day.

Do you

see what

Jesus is

saying?

And in

verse 6,

this is a

figure of

speech.

They did

not understand

him.

But let

the word

of God

clear up

your thinking

about God.

If the

Father has

given your

soul to

the Son,

he will

not cast

you out.

he will

go and

find you

like you

found that

blind man.

He will

call you

by his

voice,

by name.

Say your

first name

in your

mind.

He will

call you

by name

and you

will follow

him because

you are

his.

The

Father gave

you to

him.

Isn't

that good

news?

he will

not lose

his own.

So where

do you get

your assurance

from?

You get

your assurance

if you know

the voice

of your

shepherd and

if you're

following him.

That's where

our assurance

comes from.

Well,

what does it

look like

then for

those who

belong to

Christ to

follow his

voice?

I've

encouraged us

to try to

meditate upon

and even

memorize

Ephesians 1.

What does

it look

like to

follow

Jesus?

Ephesians 1.

He chose

us in

Christ before

the foundation

of the

world.

Why?

What does

it look

like?

That we

should be

holy and

blameless

before him.

So you

remember those

religious elite

who were there

grinding their

teeth enraged

at Stephen?

One of those

was Saul.

Saul was a

wolf.

He was the

best wolf.

He was

tearing

Christians

out of

their homes,

throwing them

in prison.

Saul was

grinding their

teeth enraged

like a

wolf.

And our

Lord Jesus

called Saul

by name,

gave him

a new

name.

And Saul

followed our

Lord as a

missionary,

walking

holy and

blamelessly

before the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

That's what

it looks

like.

And this

is where

in our

human minds

we want

to start

breaking

it down.

Why?

Why did

God do

this?

We want

to try

to figure

it all

out and

put our

human words

to it.

Well,

let's stick

with Ephesians

a bit more.

We've

reviewed how

he predestined

us for

adoption to

himself through

Jesus Christ.

And if you

want to ask

the why

question,

he gives

you three

answers right

here in

verses 5 and

6 of

Ephesians 1.

Why?

In love.

Because God

is love.

Why else?

Number two,

according to

the purpose

of his

will.

He is

God.

This is

his will

to save

you in

love.

Number three,

why?

To the

praise of

his glorious

grace.

God gets

all the glory

in our

salvation.

He is the

door of

our salvation.

So my

encouragement to

you is to

follow the

good shepherd.

shepherd.

You can

enjoy abundant

life in

him.

Verse 11,

he says

that.

The good

shepherd lays

down his

life for

his sheep.

The wolf

comes at

night.

The shepherd

says,

over my dead

body,

will you get

anyone of

my own?

our Lord

Jesus Christ

lays down

his life.

The wolf

of sin,

Satan,

death,

the wrath

of God,

he lays

down his

life as

the good

shepherd so

that his

sheep can

enjoy life

abundant

through him,

through the

door.

father.

So whether

we like it

or not,

the Bible

says that

you and

I are

like sheep

in more

ways than

we want

to admit.

Isn't

your heart

so prone

to wonder,

to be

scattered

like a

sheep?

But don't

go out

again this

week into

this world

thinking that

you're

invincible,

you can do

it all by

your own

strength,

because you

will be

devoured.

I want

us to

all picture

in the

dark of

night,

those yellow

eyes of

the wolf

that Christ

warns against,

but you

find your

comfort in

his rod,

in his

staff,

and you

listen to

his voice.

Go to

the Lord,

hear him

speak to

you.

Has God

taught you

that your

soul needs

to be

shepherded

by God

himself,

by the

Lord

Jesus?

I hope

you can

look to a

point in

your life

where you

finally were

ready to

confess that.

I, my

soul, I

need a

shepherd, and

it needs to

be God.

Anyone else

will disappoint,

will fall

short.

And if

you've not

reached that

point yet,

what's it

going to

take?

Because if

you're one

of God's,

he will

use whatever

it will

take to

bring you

to the

point of

confessing

that your

soul needs

his

shepherding

care.

God's

love to

hear.

And don't

let the

injuries you

suffered at

the hands

of false

shepherds,

don't let

those injuries

put up a

guard to the

good shepherd,

the Lord

himself.

Jesus wants

you to

confess that

he is the

good shepherd.

He is

God himself,

but also to

trust that

he is your

good shepherd.

shepherd.

He calls

you by

name.

And it's

only when the

Lord is your

good shepherd

that you can

enjoy abundant

life in

him.

Let's pray.

From Psalm

Psalms 79:13

79,

verse 13.

From

generation to

generation,

we recount

your praise.

We do that

again today,

Father.

We are your

people by

your grace.

We are the

sheep of

your pasture.

You are

our good

shepherd.

You are

with us

forever.

We will

give thanks

to you

forever and

ever.

And if

anyone hears

your voice

today,

I ask that

your Holy

Spirit will

cause them

to not

harden their

hearts,

but to