Thanks for having me here today, and sometimes you're forced to be among others, and sometimes you are required to be among others, and sometimes it's your duty to be among others. But best of all, it's a great delight when you want to be around others. And it's always a great privilege to be with you, our brothers and sisters, with whom we have more than a collegial relationship. My wife, Mary and I always look forward to being on greener pastures on this side of town, and we do thank you. For text is taken from the 10th chapter of John's Gospel. The first 11 verses of the 10th chapter of St. John. Do you all stand for the reading of God's Word? Now this is God's Word from John chapter 10 verses 1 through 11. 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 the 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 leaves them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech, Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus, against that to them, 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, anyone answers 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. This is God's Word, and all God's people are from the Bible saying, oh Lord, we look to you now. We thank you for your word, we pray that you will be pleased, and that you will see to it, that your spirit, brings out its fullest meaning to our minds and hearts. We ask that you open up the understanding of your Word. For without you, we can do nothing, and so we look to you now in active dependence on your Holy Spirit, and we ask, oh Lord, that you will garner our attention, that you will rebuke the spirit of complacency, and that you will garner all our thoughts, that you will dispel all distractions, and you will cause us to focus on your Word. Do it, we would ask, to the praise of your glory for the sake of your name through Christ and by His Spirit, amen. Would you be seated, please? Today I would ask that you reason with me from this simple topic, the good shepherd, the good shepherd, contrary to the misleading claims of liberal theologians and contrary to the confused voices of naysayers, the gospel of John is deeply rooted in Old Testament theology. It was not as some advance in their wisdom that it concerns, or it be speak, the particular concerns of a particular community around the time of John. No, the gospel of John is rooted in Jewish milieu. Look at the way it starts, it starts with in the beginning was the Word, and that goes all the way back to the beginning of our canon. Genesis 1, verse 1, it is rooted in Old Testament theology and it is rooted in the Jewish milieu. It is not only in because of its similarity or its linguistic similarity with Genesis 1, but also we see it in certain themes and topics that are bound in one of which is the motif of the shepherd or the good shepherd, which we find throughout the Old Testament, in which we will open up and expand in a few minutes. But it is also listed in and verified by that connection. And we know that Jesus made seven I am statements. The I am statements of our Lord Jesus Christ, beginning in John chapter 6 with I am the bread of life, John chapter 8, I am the light of the world, John chapter 10, I am the door, the good shepherd 11, I am the resurrection and the light 14. I am the way the truth and the life and then finally in 15, I am the vine, the true vine, the authentic vine. When Jesus made those remarks, when he made those claims, he uses the language, the I am language of Exodus chapter 3 and verse 14. And there we see the Lord, God, Yahweh, identifying Himself, revealing Himself to Pharaoh through Moses. You tell the Pharaoh that I am sent you. I am indicate in the form of a name. Well, I am in any way, when used by God or of God, indicates one who is self-existent. He is self-existent, He has total independence of His creation. He never had a beginning and He never will have an end. He is totally independent of the creature. He has life in Himself and therefore He necessarily exists. In other words, if there were no God, there would be no you, there would be no nothing. But when Jesus made those remarks, what he is doing here is cleaning to Himself, the very attributes that were predicated upon God in the old covenant. In other words, he is saying, I am God. Whatever attributes and characteristics you can think of when you speak of the God of the Old Testament, I represent Him fully, totally, completely, in all of divine majesty and splendor in human form. That is what He was saying. And so this book, therefore, is rooted in the Old Testament. It is not something that John thought about and brought about in order to identify or to relay the concerns of His immediate community. This book has universal scope. When we see Jesus, therefore, as the good shepherd, here is what we want to know. We want to see Him and understand Him as the cosmic God. Not simply as the Jewish God, but as the cosmic God. He is Lord of all. He is Lord of all nations. Let's look at the text again and we can find out there too. Two lessons we want to draw from this. Two lessons we want to draw concerning the good shepherd. Firstly, in verses 1 through 6, we see the first lesson of the good shepherd, His voice is correctly identified by His sheep. His voice is correctly identified by His sheep in the first six verses. Now, is it identified correctly by His sheep? Well, verses 1 and 2, tell us in contrast with Lorenny Gays. Jesus begins, verse 1, saying, truly, truly, Amen, Amen. It is a strong, solemn, a separation. It's a deeply empathic statement that points to that signals that summons us to understand that what He is saying is extremely true. Not everything, not that He has ever said anything that was not true. But this statement means, if you've been sleeping in church, you need to wake up now. That's what it means. I say to you, He who does not enter, but they are sheep full by the door, but climbs in by another way. That man is a thief and a robber. His voice is correctly identified by His sheep in contrast with the Renny Gays. He's saying here in verse 1 that there's one legitimate way or method of entering into the sheep full. The sheep full was an open air in closure, and it did have a door on it. Sometimes they didn't, but in this case, it does have a door, and usually the doors were very strong. They were very solid. And he was saying here that there is a legitimate way of entering into the sheep full, and it is by that door. There is only one way of entering. But if you don't do that, you come in by another way, a counterfeit way. Then you are a thief and a robber. A thief we understand that. But the word robber means more than just somebody who steals it. Somebody who steals and deceives and deprives us of our property in a very violent way. The word is used in John chapter 18 verse 40 to speak of the man between one of the men between whom Jesus Christ was crucified. And there it is described as a robber. In some places it can be, it can mean an insurrectionist, a revolutionary, a rebel, a Renny Gays. It goes on to say in verse 2 that he, in contrast, he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Why is this so important? Because John chapter 10 continues the discussion from John chapter 9. John chapter 9, in John chapter 9 we find Jesus healing the man that was born blind. He was born blind. Jesus healed him. He went and showed the benefits of Jesus miracle to the church leaders, to the religious leaders. And he was excommunicated. Chapter 9 ends with these words in 40 and 41. Some of the Pharisees near him heard him, near him heard these things and said to him, Are we also blind? And Jesus said to them, if you were blind, you would have no guilt. But now that you say we see your guilt remains language. That same meaning is found in John chapter 10 verse 21. These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the sight of the eyes of the blind? In other words, John chapter 9 verses 40 and 41 and John chapter 10 verse 21 form an inclusio. An inclusio is a literary device that is used as frames, as book ends. And the book end A says the same thing as book end B. And so we are to understand that everything that comes between these two frames of reference contains to them. In John chapter 9 Jesus indicts the religious leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and so on, for their blindness. And so in chapter 10 he continues this discourse. He continues to denounce them very, very strenuously because they think, because of their much learning, they can see. But the fact is they are blind. They are blind because they cannot understand. They are blind because they cannot recognize. They are blind because they cannot hear and identify the voice of the one speaking to them at the very voice of Messiah himself. And so they are blind. These are the blind ones, Jesus is saying to us, who do not enter the sheepfold, the legitimate way, the correct way, they established way, the proper way. No, because they want to main the sheep. They want to mislead the sheep. And so they jump over the fence in order to steal the sheep. That's what he's saying. And they know exactly to whom he was referring. They knew that he was speaking of and about and even against them. So we see that his voice is clearly or is correctly identified by his sheep in contrast with the renegades. Who are the renegades? Describe Pharisees and the religious leaders who are misleading the disciples by rejecting Christ and His claim to be the one sent from the bosom of God the Father. And secondly, we see his voice is correctly identified by his sheep in verses three through five in the context of a relationship in the context of a relationship. Now to him, the keeper opens to whom? To the one who is the shepherd, the gatekeeper was one who was hired to watch the sheep by staying keeping guard at the door throughout the night. And many times the sheepfold would have the sheep of more than one shepherd. They would bring them there and deposit them there and trusting the gatekeeper with their flock. When the gatekeeper sees the shepherd coming, Jesus says, his sheep hear his voice and he calls them by their names. It's just like we have animals and we name them names. Well, the sheep had name, Bambi and whatever. But when he calls them, he would, they would answer him and he would leave them up. What we see here is an intimate relationship. The study showed that if shepherd Joseph and called one of the sheep that belonged to shepherd Jacob, he called them by his right name. They wouldn't answer because they identified with the particular voice of their own shepherd. And so we find that this here is a relationship. We re-identify Christ and we identify Christ's voice only, only in a saving relationship with him. We can hear Christ speaking and understand what he is saying, only if we have a covenant relationship with him. If he saved us and saved our wicket, where were souls and brought us in from the streets unto himself and transformed us from a goat to a sheep. That's when we can hear his voice and understand his voice and recognize his voice and respond to his voice. Look at verse 4. Now he's going to bring them out. All of them and he would leave them and the sheep will follow for they know his voice. Isn't this a picture of biblical Christianity? Isn't this a picture of discipleship? Aren't we disciples of Christ who walk with him as he leads us along the way, the righteous way and not the way of our own understanding? Yes, look at yourselves. You heard the voice of God calling you, effectually, when the gospel message was declared to you was proclaimed not only to your ears but also to your hearts and your minds and your souls. And this God of the Bible who for knew you in eternity past and who predestined you unto salvation in eternity past in the continuum of time and space in history, effectually calls you unto himself by the voice of Christ in the gospel message. And you responded with the faith that he gives you and you looked up to the Christ that you were rejecting in the past, to the Christ that you were rebelling against in the past, in the Christ that you were being disobedient to and you said, yes, Lord, save my wretched soul. So what happens then? He gathers his sheep. He sits the sheep. He finds the sheep. He feeds the sheep and he foes the sheep at his point church. And all of you now here who have eternal life have been saved by answering the voice, the clearly identified, the clearly identifiable, the correctly identified voice of Jesus Christ. And so he goes before them and once you have come to Christ as a living stone, you keep on coming to Christ. You just don't come and stop. Your whole life is now pressing on in Christ. He is leading you and you are following him. And first of all, he says, yes, in the context of a relationship, on the contrary, a stranger, they will not follow. A stranger will not follow. They will not follow. Why would they not follow a stranger because they don't know his voice? They have no relationship with him. But he leaves and they follow. He leaves them to green pastures. He leaves them beside still waters. He leaves them and feeds them and folds them because he is preparing them to be more and more like him and to live with him forever and ever in heaven. So he leaves. He is not a cold boy who goes rolling up with a lasso. He doesn't have a shotgun and a last one hand and a lasso in the other hand. No, no, no, no. He is the shepherd and the good shepherd leads the sheep. Several years ago on the trip to the Middle East, this group were being trapped for their trip to Palestine. And the guide told them before we get into the Palestinian countryside, this is what I want you to see. I want you to see that there is going to be the shepherd and the sheep. That is a very endemic characteristic of this part of the world. And I want you to take note because the shepherd is always leading the sheep. He is faithful and he leaves and they also respond in faith and they follow. When they got into the countryside now, something different appeared. He saw a group of sheep, a flock of sheep but they were being chased by a person. And so I rate now and very disturbed about this, the guide went and rebuked the so-called shepherd and he said, I have just told these people that when they come here they will see the shepherd leading the sheep. Why are you chasing them? And the man said, oh, I am not the shepherd. You see, I am the butcher. The shepherd leads the sheep to pastors to find life but the false prophets chase the sheep. The false prophets bribe and chase and harass the sheep. Oh, they don't cry. Vote for me and I'll set you free anymore. Plant your seed and I'll heed your grieve. That's what they say. Oh, I can hear one of them saying now, my heart is not set until I get my jet. Bring your offering, bring your ties so I can fly the friendly skies. Oh, shepherd, fleece in the sheep, misleading the sheep, scaling from the sheep in order to fatten their pockets. So we find that this now is in contrast in the context of a relationship. And then in six, we find in the first part of this message this figure of speech. Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. What do we make of that? Who's the issue is to whom does them refer? Well, to make a long story short, it refers to the Pharisees of chapter nine. They did not understand what he was saying because they were blind and they could not grasp the essence of his teaching that the good shepherd or the shepherd right now or the door which he is. All of those pictures, those metaphors refer to him and that he in his person and work was fulfilling all the pictures concerning or the pictures and metaphors and symbols and even the institutions found in the Old Testament. They couldn't understand it. Now, these were teachers of the law. If you want the law interpreted, you go to the Pharisees. But this is what they didn't understand that Christ was pointing to himself as the shepherd and surely they should have at least understood that he was being bold enough to call himself God because you see the picture of the shepherd. Yes, it is use of David first time you were 16 and so on when he was lying in the sheep when the prophet went to look for him in order to annoy him and so on. He was lying in the sheep and he was the youngest of Jesse's sons. Yet they understood that God ultimately is the shepherd of the sheep. This very David wrote that the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. So I'm 77 and we're ready. We read there that Moses, that God through Moses led the people out from the Exodus into the promised land. We see also throughout the Old Testament that God is the shepherd of his people and in particular when we go to places like Ezekiel 34, here is what we find. Well, it's in the first 14 verses. I'll read a few verses of Ezekiel 34 so you can get a feel for the picture. The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man prophesied against the shepherds of Israel. That's against the false preachers and teachers. Prophecy and say to them even to the shepherd. Thus says the Lord God, oh shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourself should not shepherd speed the sheep. They were fleece in the sheep, stealing from the sheep, promising the sheep all kinds of promises that they could not keep and fulfill. You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones but you do not feed the sheep. Sounds just like Atlanta in 21st century. The weak you have not strengthened the sick, you have not healed the injured, you have not bound up the straight, you have not brought back the lost, you have not sought and with force in harshness, you have ruled them. Therefore, verse 7, you shepherds hear the word of the Lord as I live declares the Lord God surely because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep have become food for all the while be, since there was no shepherd and because my shepherds have not served for my sheep but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep. Therefore you shepherds hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God behold, I am against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer will the shepherds, shall the shepherds, shall the shepherds feed themselves, I will rescue my sheep from their mouths that they may not be food for them. Behold, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered so will I seek out my sheep and will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them into their own land. Now will feed them on the mountain of Israel, verse 14, I will feed them with good pasture and on the mountain hikes of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. At least the Pharisees should remember that verse but they did not. Why? Because they were blind. And so we see here that they couldn't understand what Jesus was saying. It seemed like or it was a figure of speech not a parable. Something resembling a parable, it's a statement that whose meaning is veiled but at the same time it contains lofty truths which have to be explained later. And so here is the proclamation of a mystery they couldn't understand Christ's identification that awaited his future explanation. They did not understand what he was saying to them. The teachers of the law could not understand and identify Christ. He came to his own but his own did not receive him. They rejected him and certainly as good teachers they should have grasped this. This man is calling himself God. He's calling himself the door. He's calling himself the shepherd. He's calling himself the watchman, the gatekeeper, later on and so on. Who is this man? His voice was now recognized by them but his voice was correctly identified by his sheep. What we also understand lastly is this faithful sheep of the shepherd Jesus Christ. We cannot be complacent or careless Lord forbid even call us in our walk. We are to spend time with him and listen to his voice as he the majesty of Christ is proclaimed from the pulpit the pulpit at East Point Church. Learned to identify his voice from the wide capacity of voices out in the world and even from within the so-called church so that you will not. Misunderstand when Christ is speaking or what he is saying to you. Listen to his voice and whatever he's saying you do like this preacher one time he was a guest preacher. And he went to the church and he preached a sermon he thought he did well and he was in the line greeting folks at the end. You got to be here thank you. And one man came up to him a very ram bunch of scantankara as well. Your sermon was too long your voice was too loud at times. You dropped your voice too low at other times. Your sermon had no unity, no coherence. I didn't even understand what you were saying. It wasn't a big idea. I didn't grasp it. So he was very disconsolate now and he saw a sweet little little lady in a corner and she goes up to the lady and says tell me who is that man right there. He said something that was pretty frightening and the lady said don't worry about him. What are the voices the people are saying he says the same thing. Y'all didn't get it. Y'all didn't get it. Thank you there's a delayed reaction. Sometimes we don't listen to voices. So here's the first part the good shepherd the first lesson his voice is correctly identified by his sheep. And then in verses 7 through 11 we see the second lesson concerning the good shepherd his validity his validity is clearly intensified to his sheep. His validity is clearly intensified to his why do I say that because in verses 7 through 11 he is going to expand on what he just said. They didn't get it but now he's going to intensify it but they're still not going to get it and only his sheep will understand what he's saying. So in verses 7 through 8 we see a rigorous reminder so Jesus again says to them he's reminding them rigorously truly truly I mean I mean I say to you I am the door of the sheep. He's going to repeat this and expand on it in verse 9. And all who came from before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. You can enter into the sheepfold only through me. You want to find green pastures. You want to find the light that sustains you. You want to find the light that satisfies you. The light that strengthens you. You have to come through me. Why? I am the door. Goes on to say all who came before me are thieves and robbers. What does he mean here? All the prophets? I don't think so. All those that were sent by God know John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus was the greatest in the Old Covenant. So he couldn't mean all the prophets. I think he's again referring to the Pharisees, those that have come before him trying to undo what he is saying, what he is teaching, who are trying to mislead the people concerning his identity and his work. Now all of them that came before me that are saying that you are not Messiah because you are teaching against Moses, those are the ones that he is speaking to. And guess what? They are still in the crowd. So this statement that says that they are before me means yes, they came immediately before me and they are still trying to subvert my gospel, the gospel of the kingdom. So they are near me in terms of proximity but they are also near us in terms of their notoriety. These are cruel and insidious persons and then in verses 9 and 10 we see not only the rigorous reminder but also there we find the reassuring affirmation, the reassuring affirmation. I am the door he repeats from verse 7 and if anyone answers by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. This goes back to places and the Old Covenant like the book of Deuteronomy where we see that the Messiah would lead his people in and he would lead his people out. Particularly it has reference to the Exodus event, God himself leading his people out of Egyptian captivity and enter the Promised Land through the successor of Moses, a man called Joshua. And so in the context of Deuteronomy it is a symmetric phrase that resonates with a covenant understanding. We are in a covenant relationship with God through Christ by virtue of us being born again and we now belong to him. We are his sheep, he is our shepherd and here is this great assurance that he gives us. If anyone enters by me he will be saved. He is exclusive as the shepherd and so there is only one exclusive way to enter the sheep fold. It is by Christ and by Christ alone that we are saved. There is no other name under heaven given among men except that name Jesus Christ by which you can and shall and must be saved. And so he is saying do you see the exclusivity that he is claiming to himself in spite of the postmodern teaching and in spite of the popular teaching where everybody just wants to come together and have a good time. And you know you can have your truth and this is the way I see Jesus, no he doesn't say that that's not what he means, that's your interpretation. I don't see it that oh Jesus shut up, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by me. So this verse here, verse 9 he anticipates John 146 which I just quoted. If any man enters, if anyone enters by me this is the assurance that he will have. He will be saved and not only is he going to be saved but he is going to have a free ingress and free egress. He can come in and he can go out. He's in and out to graze upon the pastors that I give him the blessings of the gospel message in other words. And in contrast he goes on to say there that the thief comes to steal. Well only to steal and to kill and to destroy. What do false preachers give death? Well he's been wrong with health and wealth and prosperity. You know he still teaches Jesus and salvation alone. Let me ask you this. Are you satisfied with that? If I make you an omelette and I put four rotten eggs in it, would you accept it? It's still an omelette, the cheese is good, the butter is good, the salt is good, there's nothing contaminated in the pepper. And look at the pepper and the onions, would you accept it? How about two rotten eggs, would you accept it? How about one? No. Why would you settle therefore for a polluted corrupted gospel? Why? I have found that you might have life housed more abundantly, a life that is full of richness, a life that is filled with wronglessness. Yes, my cup runs over. It's life is so abundant that we have to drink from the salsa because the coffee is running over into the salsa. Yes, it's abundant like our salvation. It is not skimpy and wimpy. Our salvation is rich and plentiful and enrobed because we have a masculine robot god. Now the sisters you see undercover of time magazine. The faith comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy, but under country because I am Messiah, because I have come from the bosom of the Father because He sent me to do His work, the work that He taught me, and to say the words that He taught me. I didn't come in my own agenda. I came to do only the things that the Father required of me to gain salvation for your soul. And therefore your life is abundant. This is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ reminding us today, brothers and sisters, that His salvation is abundant. It doesn't run dry. It is not affected by the vagaries of the stock exchanging. It is unaffected by inflation. This is abundant life because it comes from the abundant immutable God Himself, Jesus Christ. Yes, His validity is definitely clarified. His validity is clarified to the followers, to the sheep, and now He comes to verse 11. And what He's been saying before, it now comes to a crashing crescendo. It's not a conclusion that leads to a dead end in a cul-de-sac. No, it reaches forward and upward, louder than Alan plays on the piano. And it resonates with the resounding revelation. It resonates with the resounding revelation. What is the Lord saying? What does our Lord say? I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Do you see this? It's all building up now and here is the crescendo. Let me tell you what I'm trying to say. It's a logical revelation. I am the good shepherd. That's what He says. And let me tell you about this good shepherd. He lays down His life for the sheep. It's a sacrificial revelation. He lays down His life. It's a substitutionary revelation for the sheep. It is a superlative revelation. The good shepherd, not David by the way. The prototypical king of Israel who fought with bears and who's maybe those two. And with a lion. And the Lord rescued him. He, yes, but he did not lay down His life. And not Moses, the mediator of the old covenants, who led them from Egyptian captivity against Pharaoh. He was faithful and He stood His ground and led the people out of captivity. But He did not lay down His life. Christ alone laid down His life. That's why it's a superlative revelation. All the pictures in the old covenant, all the metaphors of the old covenant, they all terminate. They all climax at a point called Jesus Christ. They come together and He says, this is what I'm trying to tell you. Yes, I'm the door. And I am also the watchman. And I am also superlatively the great good shepherd. Good there does not mean morally good. That's not the word that the Greek uses. The word there emphasizes good in terms of efficiency, in the execution of His Messianic work. Good there in terms of the dedication and the faithfulness that He demonstrates to the Father in the prosecution of His Messiahship. That's what good there means. This good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. Can you hear His voice now? Is He calling someone to salvation? Is He calling someone to be reconciled to His or Her spouse to brothers or sisters within the church? Is He calling us to full-time ministry? Is He commanding us to forsake specific sin in your lives? Listen to the voice of the good shepherd. Jesus calls us or the two-mode over the wild and restless sea. Day by day His voice sounded. Listen Christian and follow Me. You know why He is.