I AM the Good Shepherd

I'm reading this morning's John chapter 10, first 30 verses.

John 10 · chapter mention

So if you'd like to open your Bibles and devices.

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 gatekeepers open.

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by their name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his name, they know his voice.

A stranger they will not follow, but they flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them,

Truly, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

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

I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal, 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.

And the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

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

I am the good shepherd.

I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father who knows me,

and I know the Father.

And I lay down my life for the sheep.

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice,

so there will be one flock, one shepherd.

For this reason, the Father loves me,

because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

This charge I have received from my Father.

There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.

Many of them said,

He has a demon and is insane.

Why listen to him?

Others said,

These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon.

Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?

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.

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,

How long will you keep us in suspense?

If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

Jesus answered them,

I told you, and you do not believe.

The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me.

But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

My sheep hear my voice, and 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.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all.

Greater than all.

And no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.

I and the Father are one.

Thank you.

Well, first, I just want to thank Dave for sharing the pulpit with me today.

It's a great privilege to be able to preach.

And it's something you don't take lightly.

But what a great text.

I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.

In 2008, June and I were looking after, at least I was preaching up at Walker.

And while she was getting settled into the mance, I went over to the church building.

And I sat down behind the pulpit.

And here, in large letters, was facing me these words.

Sir, we would see Jesus.

Let's pray.

Father, we come together today with much expectation.

We come to worship you in spirit and in truth.

Because they are the ones that you desire to worship you.

But, Father, we come today and we want to see you.

We want to hear you speaking to us.

And we want to know that you love us with that everlasting love.

And so we ask that you guide and direct us today in Christ's name.

Well, what must we see in Jesus and hear about Jesus this morning?

Just three points with a few subheadings.

Firstly, we want to look at his deity.

I am, he says.

Not I was or I will be, but I am.

I always was and I always will be.

The Jews glorified, gloried in Abraham as their father

and as being part of and upholders of his covenant.

But Jesus told them, before Abraham was, I am.

He also said, in verse 24, the last part of this verse,

if you do not believe that I am, he, you will die in your sins.

He told them in chapter 8 and verse 58.

It's hard for anyone really, I think, to grasp the enormity of Jesus' divinity.

I don't know whether you've tried to think about it, to think.

We often sing the children's song, my God is so big, so strong and so mighty.

But do we really believe it?

He is very God of very God.

He's the creator of the heavens and the earth and the seas and all the things that are therein.

He's the one who upholds all things by the word of his power.

The one before whom we shall all one day kneel and confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

But I believe that is exactly what Isaiah saw in the year King Uzziah died.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah said, in the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord lifted up.

He was seated on his right and his train filled the whole of the temple.

And here were the cherubim and seraphim around him calling out,

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.

And Isaiah fell down before the Lord.

And he says, why am I?

He said, I'm a man of unclean lips and I live amongst a people of unclean lips.

But Isaiah saw the risen, glorified King of kings seated on the throne.

In John chapter 12, you'll find that that's what Jesus says he saw.

John 12 · chapter mention

Others heard his voice.

Some spoke with him face to face.

One man wrestled with him.

One had seen the back parts of him, felt his presence.

But no one saw him in his glory seated on his throne.

Nor seen and heard the declaration of heavenly hosts as Isaiah saw and heard.

Jesus is declaring here in our text that he is the I am that told Moses of the burning bush to take the sandals off his feet.

For the ground on which he was standing was holy ground.

He told Moses to tell the people of Israel, I am sent you.

I am whom I am.

Jesus is divine.

He is that second person of the Godhead.

But we also want to see him not only as divine, but we want to see his humanity.

Because in our text it says, I am the good shepherd.

We want to see him as the good shepherd.

Not only is Jesus the door to the sheepfold, as we see in the beginning of this chapter 10 of John.

As the only way to get to heaven is through him.

To be part of his heavenly family, you must come through Jesus.

But there in verse 7, as Jesus said, most assuredly I said to you, I am the door of the sheep.

There he's pictured as an object.

A way.

A guardian.

A guardian.

But here in our text he is the shepherd.

Indeed he's different from all the other shepherds of his flock.

There are wicked shepherds as we see in our text.

There are false shepherds who try to get into heaven some other way.

And the faithful shepherds, like our own pastors here.

But he is above all.

He is the good shepherd.

What he can do and does that no other shepherd can do.

What is it?

I think David described it best in Ellen Stoll, my thunder here.

The Lord is my shepherd.

That's a big statement.

The Lord, the divine one, the control of all things, he is my shepherd.

And he says, I shall not want.

Shall not want anything.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil.

For you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

He says, my cup overflows.

And he says, one day, he said, I know, I shall be in the house of the Lord forever.

I wonder if that's your understanding, your statement, your assurance this morning.

You know the Lord is your shepherd and you know you're going to be in heaven.

If you've lived very long.

Only Arthur's lived longer than me, I think, here today.

But there's some rough patches in our life.

It's not all a bed of roses.

Not all a bowl of cherries.

There is this valley.

We sometimes think we'll never get through this valley of the shadow of death.

These tough times.

But one thing we know, or two things we know.

We know the Lord.

And we know we're going to be with him forever.

He is good.

He is good.

There are none of the fallen race of humanity since Adam sinned in the garden of Eden who are good.

I mean good in the perfect sense.

Because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And only the sinless son of God, Jesus Christ himself, is good.

But how good?

How good is this good shepherd really?

And I think that we see this in that third part of our study today.

We see it in his love.

He says, I am the good shepherd.

Good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.

Good shepherd.

And the first thing we want to know about this is that Christ's love is sufficient.

When the Virgin Mary was expecting the Christ child by the Holy Spirit,

Joseph, her husband, was told to call his name Jesus,

for he will save everybody in the world from their sins.

Every man, woman and child that ever entered into this world from their sins?

No.

He said he will save his people from their sins.

And here he is in John 10, at the height of his earthly ministry,

telling his fellow countrymen that he would have to die to save them.

He gives his life for his sheep.

No one took his life from him.

He gave it freely.

How generous is that?

But it was planned from all eternity.

It was prophesied in Isaiah 53 clearly and applies precisely.

Look at the verses 14 through 18.

I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and am known by my own.

As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father.

And I lay down my life for the sheep.

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring.

And they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Therefore my Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.

I have power to lay it down.

I have power to take it again.

This commandment I have received from my Father.

It wasn't Judas Iscariot or Pilate, the Jewish rulers and the mob, nor the soldiers who took Jesus' life.

He laid it down himself.

He could have called on 12 legions of angels to deliver him, as we see in Matthew 26, 53, but he didn't.

Greater love has no man than this.

And that he lay down his life for his friends.

His born-again friends.

His life.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave his life.

The sinless son of God.

Lay down his life.

What a cost.

The hymn writer, Cecil Francis Alexander, an Irish woman wrote,

There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin.

He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.

Jesus is telling his hearers who he is and what he is going to do.

But we're in such a marvelous position this morning, aren't we?

Because we're on the other side of the cross.

We know that what he said he was coming to do, he actually did.

He did die on the cross to save his people from their sins.

He did rise again.

He did ascend into heaven.

And he sits as the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Redemption has been accomplished and applied to those already saved.

And to those who will be saved before the Lord Jesus comes again.

But the sheep.

Who are they?

Well, what distinguishes them from the goats?

Because on the judgment day, the Lord says when he comes,

he'll sort out the sheep from the goats.

The wheat from the tares.

The believers from the unbelievers.

But some clearly were not his sheep.

Look at verse 26.

Or 25.

Well, let's go back to 24.

The Jews surrounded him and said to him,

How long do you keep us in doubt?

If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

Jesus answered him and said,

I told you.

And you do not believe.

The works that I do in my Father's name,

they bear witness of me.

But you do not believe.

Why don't they believe?

Because you are not of my sheep.

It is very clear that some people are going to be in heaven

and some are not.

Can we thank the Lord and say,

Well, we know who they are that are not

and we can just not worry about them

and we'll just speak to the ones that are going to be.

But we're not God.

We are to preach the gospel to every creature.

But the Lord himself is the one.

He is the judge of all.

And he tells these Jews who are opposing constantly,

You're not my sheep because you do not believe.

The Lord knows, as David told the kids,

he knows them by name.

They know him,

not just about him.

Anyone can read the scriptures

and have an intellectual understanding

of who this Jesus is.

But they know him

because they have a personal relationship

with this one true and living God.

This saviour that laid down his life for them

and who loved them.

They have a personal love for him.

And they have a dependence upon him

and a hopefulness of life with him forever.

Having loved his own,

he loved them to the end.

And heaven awaits them

after this earthly life.

And my friends,

is that what you're talking about?

Is it like after I looked on my wife that morning,

21st of January 2011,

and sure she was dead,

but I knew she was absent from the body

and present with the Lord.

Is that how it's going to be for you?

Is that your hope?

Nicodemus,

the head man we heard

in chapter 3 of John's Gospel.

He was the one that led the Jewish nation.

He was the Pharisee of the Pharisees,

if you like,

the leader.

But he knew he wasn't right with God.

And he comes to Jesus by night

and he says to him,

no one can do the works that you do

except if you come from God.

Jesus didn't even answer him.

He said,

Nicodemus,

you must be born again.

The woman at the well.

She said,

I perceive that you're a prophet.

And then Jesus reveals himself to her.

And what about the blind man last week?

David was talking about,

here he was.

And they keep pestering these leaders of the Jews

and they want to know,

tell us plainly what happened.

He said,

he said,

one thing I know,

once I was blind,

but now I see.

These people entered into this personal relationship.

They hear his voice

and Jesus gets their attention.

Verse 16,

I just put praise the Lord after this.

And other sheep I have which are not of this fold,

them also I must bring.

Isn't God good?

I don't think anyone here is a Jew, maybe.

We used to have one who was part Jew,

once a time.

But where are those others?

And Jesus said he must bring them

from every nation, tongue and tribe.

He'll get your attention.

Has he got my attention?

No matter what we are doing or where we're going,

whether our sport is our great God,

whether gaming is the thing that takes us all our time,

whether scrolling, we can't resist it,

or whether we're just depressed and we can't cope,

when the Lord says,

listen,

listen,

when he calls your name,

he gets your attention.

And his sheep believe what they hear.

That's what he says here in verse 27.

But my sheep hear my voice.

My sheep hear my voice and I know them

and they follow me.

Matthew 5, 24 says,

he who hears my word

and believes on him who sent me

has everlasting life

and will not come into condemnation

but is passed from death unto life.

Have you had that experience?

Do you know that you've heard Christ calling you by name

and you've believed on him

and he's given you that assurance

that you have eternal life now?

How do we hear?

Well, it's by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has ascended

but he sent the Holy Spirit too

in John chapter 14 through 16.

John 14 · chapter mention

You'll see that

Jesus says,

it's right for me to go

so that the Holy Spirit can come.

And he's omnipresent.

And he guides us into all truth.

But what do they hear?

What do you and I hear

when he calls us by name?

Well, we hear that we have sinned

against this holy God.

And that's the big difference.

We've all done things wrong.

Don't kid yourself.

I can point to say,

yes, I know you've done something wrong

but there's always three pointing back at me.

But it's when we see

that we've sinned against a holy God,

this I am,

we see this.

and we see that we deserve to be condemned.

And we see the need to repent of our sins.

And we need to believe that Jesus has come

to give his life

as a substitute on the cross of Calvary

and that he rose again the third day

and ascended into heaven

to be with his father

and to intercede for his people.

Is that you this morning?

Dave mentioned this lady,

Rosaria, I think it was,

the converted lesbian,

professor of English.

She said,

in April of 1999,

I felt the call of Jesus Christ upon my life.

It was both subtle and blatant,

like the peace inside the eye of a hurricane.

I could in no way resist

and in no way understood

what would become of my life.

How does this affect

such repentant sinners

as you and I this morning

who have believed?

In verse 27 again,

my sheep hear my voice

and I know them

and they follow me.

We follow Jesus.

And how do we do that?

Well, we need to be reading his word

constantly, daily.

We need to be meditating on it

day and night.

We need to be those

who are able to speak

about the word of God,

to be able to share the word of God,

to be able to be with other believers

and to be encouraged

and chastened

from the word of God.

We follow Jesus.

But

the thing that I've noticed

is that Christ's love

is not only sufficient,

but it's very divisive.

Divisive.

His love

is divisive.

And this is

obvious, I think,

from the reaction of the Jews

as Chris read to us this morning.

Look at verse 19.

Therefore,

there was a division

again

amongst the Jews

because of these saints.

And Melinda said,

he has a demon

and is mad.

Why do you listen to him?

Others said,

these are not the words

of one who is a demon.

Can a demon

open the eyes

of the blind?

There was a division.

If you're one of

Christ's chosen people,

you will have already

had a similar reaction

from your friends

and from your families.

Are you a Christian?

Are you one of Christ's sheep?

If you are,

then you know

the reality

and the cost

of what I'm saying.

June and I

won't convert

until our late 20s.

But when we come

to understand

and have this relationship

with Christ,

we want to speak

about Christ,

our friends

seem to drift away

from us.

They didn't want

to hear about Christ.

When I left

the Masonic Lodge,

after being 15 years

a master

in the Masonic Lodge,

and I put in

my resignation,

I was cut off

from all these people.

But on a church scale,

and this is what

we're looking at here,

we're looking at Jesus

amongst these Jews,

these leaders

who want to get rid of him,

there's a great division.

Thanks.

And you can see here,

this is from a young child,

this is what was

confronted me

every Sunday.

Why is this draped

over the pulpit?

What do you notice

in the middle of it?

What do you notice

nobody knows anything?

I'm going to take

my glasses off,

I can see it.

It's the burning bush,

isn't it?

That draped over

the pulpit

of the Presbyterian church

that I was in

all my life.

It's still up

at Charlestown,

the same,

I think it's still

in St Andrews.

But in St Andrews,

they had the most

popular minister

when I was a child

for many years.

He married June and I

and it was just amazing

how many people

just flocked there.

But he,

like me and my father

and a couple of my brothers,

we were Freemasons.

It was a

liberal Presbyterian church.

The gospel was not preached

as we hear here

every week.

And after this man

died,

there came along

eventually

an evangelical Christian,

a Dutchman,

part of our

Reformed Minister's

Fellowship.

And he started

to preach

the gospel

that people

were sinners

and they needed

to repent

and believe

in the Lord Jesus Christ

to be saved.

There was such

a division

in the church

that one

quite wealthy man

offered

quite a sum of money

to get rid of him.

I don't mean

to bump him off.

I mean

just to get him

out of the place.

We don't want

to hear him.

However,

Christ's love

is sufficient

but it is divisive.

but I think

the wonderful

thing about it

it's

decisive.

Verse 27

through 29

or through

verse 30

if you like.

My sheep

hear my voice

and I know them

and they follow me.

I give them

eternal life

and they shall

never perish.

neither shall

anyone snatch

them out of

my hand.

My father

who has given

them to me

is greater

than all

and no one

is able to

snatch them

out of my

father's hand.

I and my

father

are one.

I just think

that's a

marvellous passage

don't you?

If you're one

of his sheep

you can say

praise the Lord

I'm safe

forever.

none can

snatch me

out of the

great

I am's

hand

and if you

like none

can snatch

us out of

the father's

hand

who's greater

than all

he talks

about

but he's

saying from

the whole

trinity

no one

can separate

you from

the love

of God

that's in

Christ Jesus.

You're safe

for all

eternity.

but I've

heard

and I

think some

misguided

Christians

who think

that they

can pluck

themselves

out of

his hand.

I'm just

amazed.

They can

talk about

the sovereignty

of God

they can

talk about

him being

the I

am

they can

talk about

him upholding

all things

by the

word of

his power

and yet

they think

they can

take him

with their

own free

will

out of

his hand.

My friend

that's

impossible.

That's

saying that

you are

above and

stronger than

the almighty

himself.

But what's

the object

of Christ

coming into

the world

to save

his people?

Did you

notice as

Chris read

you have

a look at

verse 10

the thief

does not

come except

to steal

and to

kill and

to destroy.

I have

come

says the

Lord

Jesus

that they

may have

life and

that they

may have

it more

abundantly.

Abundant

life.

Is that

what you've

had after?

That's what

I've had

despite all

the ups and

downs.

Abundant

life.

Fancy me

being here

this morning.

Abundant

life.

I wonder

if that's

your experience

or are

you just

struggling

along

hoping

that you'll

get to

heaven.

The Lord

has come

to give

us life.

I don't

want to

make light

of the

fact that

we all

have

struggles

and we

all have

our mental

struggles

and physical

struggles

and financial

struggles

or whatever

it might

be.

But in

Christ is

abundant

life.

It's life

to the

fullest.

and with

all these

problems and

all these

difficulties

we face

we have

to look

away from

them and

look to

him.

To see

him for

who he

is and

what he's

done and

what he

will do.

And no

one can

separate you

from the

love of

God in

Christ

Jesus.

Why would

he leave

his throne

of glory?

Why would

he humble

himself and

take on the

form of a

man and

endure such

suffering at

the hand of

sinful man

kind?

Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12:3

verse 3

tells us

for the

joy set

before him

he endured

the cross

and sat

down on the

right hand of

the majesty

on high.

So therefore

brethren seeing

we're compassed

about by so

great a cloud

of witnesses

let us lay

aside the

sin that so

easily besets

us and run

with endurance

the right

set before us

looking unto

Jesus the

author and

finisher of

our faith.

Let's pray.

Father we

thank you

that you

are the

good shepherd

the good

shepherd that

laid down

your life

for people

like us

and Father

if it

please you

that you

might speak

to people

today you

call them

by name

and you

call them

to yourself

that might

have this

great experience

of being in

a relationship

with you

the one who

loved us

and gave his

life for us

amen