Let's turn together to the book of John, the Gospel of John, the 10th verse, 10th chapter, the first verse, verses one through six. We handled this morning an allegory and an allegory is essentially an extended metaphor. As we handled an allegory where Jesus is using sheep and sheep pins and shepherds to communicate a truth that we ought to heed. This teaching follows directly on chapter 9. There is no statement that would cause us to sense that there is a transition in place or time. So chapter 9, Jesus, as you recall, healed a blind man and the blind man going to the Pharisees after a long dialogue with them was cast out of the synagogue. He was excommunicated. Jesus went to him, called out to him as the Lord. He recognized the voice of Christ, he heard his Lord, and he worshiped him. And now Jesus, in the same context, utters these words from John 10, beginning at verse one, 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 here is voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he is 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. May the Lord bless the reading of his word and the hearing of his people. Chapter 9 was a polemic, and a polemic is an argument. There was tension in chapter 9. In fact, if we were to go back to chapter 8, even as Jesus was presenting himself as the living water, as he presented himself as the light of the world, and now in the chapter or then in chapter 9, as he healed the blind man, it's as if chapter 10 provides us a bit of a soft landing after such turbulence in the ministry of Jesus. The Pharisees were concerned about sheep. The Pharisees were concerned about sheep. No, the Pharisees were not concerned about their sheep, were they? The Pharisees had one of their sheep, one of their flock, come to them, the blind man who was able to see. And no, there was not a concern by the Pharisees for their sheep. In fact, despite the fact that the man uttered nothing that was false and nothing that could be proven, because it threatened to the Pharisees, they cast him out. They tossed the blind man out, but Jesus found him. Jesus calls himself a good shepherd, a good shepherd. What would the word good indicate? Good would be a testimony of character. Good refers to the character of the shepherd, one that is selfless, one that is devoted. As Jesus was selfless and devoted to the Father. Good would refer to a character that is noble. How is it that a shepherd's character would be noble? Shepherding is a severe and taxing and dangerous occupation. Shepherding requires commitment to the flock. And a bad shepherd has no commitment. So Jesus is a good shepherd. Jesus is a shepherd that is selfless and loves the flock. Being a shepherd and the whole discussion on shepherding and sheep was using figures of speech that would be familiar to the Jews. Shepherds were passing through, shepherds were in the hillside, if they were to travel between towns or between cities, they would see shepherds frequently and sheep. So they understood the nature of Jesus' speech. They understood that there was sheep and there were shepherds and there were sheep pins that would hold sheep and that sheep responded to the voice of their shepherd alone. What they were missing is Jesus' spiritual thrust to his allegory that he was giving them. Some of the verses of the scriptures that we have speak very clearly about sheep and shepherding and these form the background in the Jewish mind that would help inform them a bit about what Jesus might be speaking of. One of the most beloved Psalms which we have, and one in fact that was read yesterday, here as we celebrated the home going of Mr. Young, was Psalm 23. Someone once said that this Psalm is the most beloved Psalm in the Bible, perhaps even the most beloved scripture in the Bible, but it is also the less believed scripture in the Bible. How is it that it is the less believed Bible verse if it is the most beloved? Listen to the verse, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Just in the first phrase, we find a struggle and attention within us, don't we? The Lord is my shepherd, so therefore what is it that a shepherd does? A shepherd provides for his sheep for what they need. He leads them beside still waters, he takes them to green pastures. The desert in the Arab world is very inhospitable. In fact, if you were to travel through the desert there's only a couple of times of year that you find rain coming in the desert and it comes in such torrents with such a downpour that there are flash floods, what's left however, is a landscape that begins to blossom and bud and then it becomes a very lush environment and the shepherds all go out and they take their flocks out to take advantage of the opportunities that this wilderness provides them. But outside of those couple of times of year it's a place with little food, it's a place with little water, it is a place with steep eroded cliffs that sometimes can have a drop of a thousand feet. Good shepherds find green pastures for their sheep, good shepherds find quiet waters for their sheep. The Lord is my shepherd, the Lord God knows what his sheep need. The Lord God knows what is best for his sheep but we find ourselves every day struggling with our wants. If the Lord is our shepherd and we trust that God Almighty knows what his people need, then why would we cultivate a list of wants? Why would we feel so insecure? Why would we have so many needs? Why would we want so much more from others than what God provides? Why do we wish we looked different? Had a different body, had a different job, had a different spouse, had different children, had different parents, had a different car? Why do we want so much more than what God has provided if we believe, Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, therefore I shall not want. We don't cultivate within ourselves a hunger for the material goods of this world, if we truly believe that the Lord is our shepherd. There should be a contentedness to the Lord's sheep, there should be a peace of fullness to the Lord's sheep. There should be an acceptance of God's work in their lives even when we fail to understand what is happening in our lives and acceptance that God not by some strange wind of fate is driving us along but by the gentle hand of providence takes us along. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 80, verse 1, Give ear O shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. God himself here is taking the position of being the shepherd of Israel enthroned upon the cherubim, who shines forth and so in the Psalms the Hebrew mine would understand that God calls himself shepherd, the shepherd of Israel. Isaiah, chapter 40, verses 10 and 11, Behold the Lord comes with might and his arm rules for him. Behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him, he will tend his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those who are with young. Do you hear the change in the tone as the verses progress? He comes with might and he rules with a strong arm and with those strong arms that he rules, he gathers up his lambs and he gently carries them in his arms and he carries them close in his bosom. He holds them tight and secure and gently leads those who are with young and so we have one who is capable, one who is strong, one who rules and one who looks to his sheep with compassion and with care and with tenderness and with mercy. This is a prophecy of the coming Messiah, who is strong to rule but gentle to his own. Jeremiah, often called the weeping prophet, lamented in chapter 22, verses 9 through 10. And many nations will pass by this city and every man will say to his neighbor, why is the Lord dealt thus with this great city? And they will answer because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them weep not for him who is dead, not nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet weeping because God was taking his people out of the land. They had worshipped other gods, they had forsaken the covenant, they had betrayed their God and so therefore God said, you will leave the land of promise and you will no longer dwell under my watch keeping care, you will not be my flock, you will be pushed out of the land. And so Jeremiah weeps because there are people who are leaving the land who will never return again to know the love and the kindness and the grace and the touch of God but in Jeremiah 31, verse 10, a chapter with great promise introducing the new covenant in very clear terms in the book and the prophecy of Jeremiah. In verse 10, hear the word of the Lord of nations and declare it in the coastlands far away say he who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock. Restoration, restoration is the promise that God is giving to them. Restoration and a return from exile, exile is a strangement from God. What happened in the garden when Adam sinned? Man was cast out of the presence of God. He was pressed out to exile, a strangement from God and then God made covenant and he gave them the promise land and he cared for them and he established a presence with them and once again man was estranged from God. We are born and sin estranged from God and exile in a dying world and God by the grace of God through through the cross of Christ restores us and calls us his own. It's the promise of restoration from exile and a strangement from God. Shepherding became imagery used to explain the political and the spiritual leadership in Israel. The people of Christ own time would often speak in terms of shepherds being their priest and being their leaders in Israel and so this was a common phrase and a common way of understanding. In fact, Moses and David were both shepherds and so they understood leadership and shepherding. David you even recall demonstrated the qualities of a shepherd as he fought lion and bear to protect his flock and so they understood good shepherds and they also understand understood bad shepherds. After 332 BC in the conquest of Alexander the Great, the Greek language and the Greek culture began to sprout across the Middle East. Although they resisted it took about 150 years before Israel began to reflect the Greek expressions and the Greek culture and the scriptures were translated into Greek. They had to be because many of the Jews could no longer read Hebrew. Many Jews resisted the Greek influence. This Greek influence was called Hellenization. You might remember it from some of your previous study. They resisted Hellenization and there was actually a prejudice against Hellenized Jews at the time and in 160 BC the Maccabee and war began. The conservative traditional Jews were battling against the Hellenized Jews and in 165 BC Judas Maccabeeus seized the temple and capturing it he rededicated it. Rededicated it and this was when the Jews began to celebrate what is now called Hanukkah. Today Jews celebrate this Hanukkah which means literally rededication but sometimes it's also called the Feast of Dedication which was the time that Jesus was teaching. This Feast of Dedication was only two months away from when Jesus is now talking about shepherds and sheep. The temple priest at the time had become Hellenized and had betrayed the people. The temple priest had led the people in the wrong direction they were bad shepherds. What had happened to Israel's shepherds? Well during the week that Jesus is likely to have given his lesson on good shepherds the readers and the synagogues were also focusing on passages regarding shepherds. Passages like Ezekiel 34. In Ezekiel chapter 34 verses 2 through 10 we have a very profound chapter dealing with shepherds of Israel. Listen carefully and mourn with me the bad shepherds that are often given to people. In Ezekiel 34 the word of the Lord came to me son of man prophesy against the shepherds of Israel prophesy and say to them even to the shepherds thus says the Lord God ah shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves should not shepherds feed the sheep. You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fat ones but you do not 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 them so they were scattered because there was no shepherd they became food for all the wild beasts my sheep were scattered they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill hill my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth with none to search or seek for them therefore 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 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 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 shall the shepherds feed themselves I will rescue my sheep from their mouths that they may not be food for them what an indictment against the shepherds of Israel and God makes the promise then I myself will come and shepherd the sheep and rescue them from bad shepherds and Jesus is saying I am the good shepherd there's a survey by Barna who does a lot of Christian surveys concerning faith and life and Christian practices one of the questions that he surveyed was to ask kids when times get tough and when things go bad where do you turn for leadership where do you turn for guidance the kids answers was dad number 25 mom number 11 where do children go when times are bad and they're depressed and they need help and guidance they turn to music and friends to their peers who are no more wise than they are and to music that's where they receive their guidance that's where they receive their marching orders those are their shepherds but once they grow up do they fare much better where do adults turn to for guidance opera doctor Phil Joel Olstein perhaps if you want a little bit of a religious flavor to your guidance how do we know what voice to follow how how is it that we can discern and all of this what it is that we should follow what the guidance is that we should follow perhaps it depends on what we're looking for do we want to be like Christ do we want to be imitators of God if so then certainly the scriptures give us direction if that's not what we're looking for however then perhaps that's why we would not hear the voice of our shepherd the voice of the shepherd is a marvelous thing in the 1980s during the Palestinian uprising Israel began punishing the Israeli army punished a settlement near Bethlehem because they refused to pay taxes and to punish them they went in and they rounded up all of their livestock and they put them in a pen in the center of the town it was a pen of barbed wire and fencing and concrete a widow came down and began to plead with the soldier who was watching them and she said my husband is gone and my sheep is all that I have it is my livelihood without the sheep we will starve and the soldier laughed and he pointed at the pin and there were hundreds of sheep and he said lady if you can find your sheep then I'll let you have them and she agreed and her son came with a reed flute and he began to play a song and 25 sheep through a scattered throughout not hanging together one by one their heads began to pop up and they began to make their way to the gate and followed the flute on the sound all the way back home the shepherds in Israel Arab shepherds the one who were really tending real sheep the animal sheep they don't push them and heard them with sheep dogs and with with four wheelers as you see in American landscapes they talk to their sheep they sing to their sheep and the sheep follow them for the shepherd to know his sheep he doesn't just count them in inventory them he lives with them and he becomes like them Jesus took on flesh and became a man and he dwelled among us and there is no temptation which we experienced that he himself has not endured and yet he is without sin in John 10 Jesus points out that the sheep must listen to discern the voice of their true shepherd do we listen for the voice of Christ doing listen to hear him speak well when will you hear him speak when will you hear the Lord speak now when the word is read and when it is rightly being preached I would never profess to you that I have always been without error though I can't recall one but nevertheless when the word is rightly preached you hear the voice of your shepherd through his under shepherd you hear the voice of your shepherd but where where's your mind when the Lord is speaking and I don't say this in any sort of a scolding way I say it a little bit more than rhetorical simply for you to reflect as I would reflect too there's no accusation intended please don't take it as such when the word is read and when there is preaching all of us would struggle with distraction but are we seeking to hear our Lord speak or are we seeking to hear the conclusion to the sermon we want to get it over with or do we want to hear the voice of our shepherd when will you hear him speak when will you be gathered into the pen and hear the voice of Christ calling to you that you may heed the voice of Christ when will you do it in your dreams at night as you're working through the day we love to say and God certainly is able if it is his will that the Lord speaks to us in all of these times and all of these seasons of life but when would you expect to most acutely hear the Lord speak when his word is opened to you the Lord speaks to you so first the sheep must listen and discern the voice of their true shepherd if we don't listen then we will hear other voices and they call loudly throughout the day and when our testimony should be the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want what we hear instead is Walmart is my shepherd I shall not want what we hear is the government rebate check is in the mail and as long as I have the government I shall not want what we hear is our employer with his retirement plan is my shepherd and if I remain faithful in my employment I shall not want those are the things that we hear those are the things we believe don't we but the Lord is our shepherd and we shall not want we must listen and we must also watch watch to see who enters through the gate because Jesus said that the good shepherd the true shepherd will enter by the gate whereas the bad shepherds will seek to scale the wall and steal the sheep they have to steal them because true sheep the true children of Christ will not or not recognize the voice of a false shepherd and follow him the true children of Christ will follow only the true and genuine voice of their shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ and so the true shepherd enters through the gate we must watch to see to discern who enters through the gate who is it that enters through the gate the one that is recognized by the gate keeper well who then is the gate keeper it would be God or perhaps we might say it is the spirit of God that opens the eyes of his people that they might be able to see that they might be able to discern the shepherd John the Baptist said behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world one who sandals I am not worthy to untie how could he profess this truth how could he say something like that about Christ because the working of the Holy Spirit was witnessed at Christ's baptism but remember in the womb when Mary came to Elizabeth because of the work of the Holy Spirit and John the Baptist even in the womb he let him he left for joy recognizing his Savior it was the Holy Spirit it is the Holy Spirit that will help us to discern the true voice of our Lord the Pharisees couldn't hear Jesus the Pharisees could not hear the shepherd's voice seven times in the book of Revelation this John same John states he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches three three principles that we need to draw out of this first of all Jesus knows his sheep verses three verses 14 of chapter 10 to him the gatekeeper opens the sheep here is voice and he calls his sheep by name and he leads them out he calls them out by name skipping down to verse 14 which was beyond the scope of our initial reading I am the good shepherd I know my own and my own know me Jesus has a genuine personal acquaintance and knowledge of his sheep and his sheep know him he knows them because they are given to him by the Father these are the ones that Jesus has died for his own sheep who are given to him by the Father even though we are sinners and even though we deserve death Christ has come and he's called us and we who are his sheep have heard him and we follow him Romans 5 6-8 for while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly for one will scarcely die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person one would dare to die but God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners Christ died for us for us particularly we're identified we sing a hymn from time to time that echoes this just as I am without one plea but that thy blood will shed for me just as we are we have no plea we have no case we have no right no privilege but in that in that condition Christ died for us when we were hopeless and wondering our shepherd came he called us even though he knew us he knows our vice he knows our pride he knows our sin he knows us and still he loves us secondly not only does he know his sheep but he calls us by name this is not some general whistling for any sheep that happens to be an earshot that will respond he calls us particularly for those that are his he calls particularly for those that belong to him those whom the Father has given him while the character of the good shepherd is an important theme in the allegory can there be any doubt that the central point of John's teaching is who will respond isn't that the central thrust of the teaching who is it that will respond because in contrast we have the Pharisees who have thrown one of the sheep out and who have rejected the good shepherd and so Jesus tells them I will call out and my sheep will hear the voice of the good shepherd given by God verse 28 and can't be taken away take your finger and scale down to verse scroll down rather to verse 28 I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand the election of the of God's chosen people and their assurance the two graces of the Christian thought that God has secured our salvation and it can't be lost I can't secure my salvation I have no case only God can grant it as a gift and it can't be lost no one will snatch us out of his hand John shows us that our doctrine of election is not just some arbitrary teaching or impersonal but it's deeply personal it's not simply arbitrary that there's a class of people that God has chosen and some sort of a random fashion but by name he has called us by name Jeremiah one five before I formed you in the womb I knew you Ephesians one four he chose us in him before the foundations of the world Jesus knows his sheep he calls his sheep by name and then finally he leads them out he leads us out of the world he leads us out of wrong forms of religion and he leads us into his church to green pastors to quiet waters the blind man was led out of the religion of the Pharisees the disciples were called out of the communities in which they lived and even out of their families to follow Christ we are called out of the world and into the church we are called out of selfishness and into service we are called out of materialism and greed and into charity and love we are called out pride and into humility we are called out of condemnation and into salvation a profession of faith is first and foremost an acknowledgement of hearing it's not agreement with doctrine it is acknowledgement that we've heard Christ it's an acknowledgement that we've heard the voice of our shepherd before any discussion on what doctrine is or any discussion on what Presbyterian is or any discussion even on what worship style we should follow before any of those the question is have you heard the voice of the good shepherd and has he called you out of the world and into his church is he called you like he did Zacchaeus when he said come down from the tree has he called you like he did Lazarus when he said Lazarus come forth from the grave have we heard him call as he called Michael as he called Bill or John Rick Jack or Chuck and I'm picking on the session because they can't fuss at me have we heard him say follow me follow me the good shepherd calls and his sheep will hear his voice have you heard his voice perhaps even today