Salvation
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Not long ago one of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, published his correspondence with the great psychiatrist, Carl Jung. He thanks Carl Jung for his contribution to Alcoholics Anonymous. He said, "You have no idea the important role you played in the forging of the famous twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. You were treating a man named Roland H., and you said, 'Roland, you're a hopeless alcoholic, there's nothing more I can do for you except take your money, and I don't want to do that.'
"Roland asked you, 'Is there anything I can do?' and you said, 'Yes, there is something you can do. Have a religious conversion. Have a religious experience.' " (And Roland H. did have a religious experience, and he became sober. He's a recovering alcoholic.)
"At the same time," continued Wilson, "my doctor told me I was a hopeless alcoholic. And I said, 'Isn't there something I can do?'
"At the time I was reading William James's A Variety of Religious Experience, and I noticed at the bottom of every religious experience was that turning your life over to God, that surrender to God. So I went home, and I said, 'God, I don't know if I even believe in you. But if you're there, if you're there, God, will you help me please?'
"In that moment I knew I was healed. In that moment I knew that the addiction was broken, that I was a free man, maybe for the first time in my whole life."
He talks about this in a movie that was recently on television, My Name is Bill W. It's about how he experienced the peace of God, the strength of God, but at the price of surrender, of turning his life over to God. That is very important. To experience the reality of God in prayer is that moment of surrender.
Salvation from condemnation and freedom from bondage is a clear result of what it is to be a born again Christian today. Not only do we have eternal life with Christ, we are free from the curse of sin, we are freed from the curse of the law. We are freed from the power of sin. And the reality is that we have the mighty Biblical principle of Christ being our prophet, priest and king. We are saved because of this threefold office. Why do we need Christ as a prophet? Because we are ignorant. Why do we need Christ as a priest? Because we are guilty. Why do we need Christ as a king? Because we are weak and helpless. This is the wonder of what God had provided for us when He saved us by His word and works and all the benefits applied to us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But today this does not seem so important to many in the church anymore. Some of us have become so complacent and apathetic to all that we have been given by the words and works of Christ. Let’s ask ourselves that question today? Does the message and gospel of Christ inspire us anymore? Some will say… Shane gospel has its time… Christmas and easter. But the rest of the time preach on things that really matter. If we are not inspired and motivated by the message of the gospel and the salvation of Christ is the answer to all that we need, then maybe what we think we need is not what we really need? When the answer to the ultimate things in life is not Christ, then something is wrong.
Its because the law is not doing its work anymore. Because society and the church is doing much to nullify the reality of what it does. If the purpose of the law of God is to show us that we are sinners, then how will we know that we are sinners if we do not hear the law. For some reason we are not ok with the gospel, we just want to get rid of the law so that we are not condemned. What is our culture and some in the church doing? The law is a mirror that shows us that our face is dirty… when we get rid of the law we never know that we got dirt on our face. But now our culture tells us that its ok to have dirt on our face. That’s who we are. That’s what I am. That’s my decision. That’s just how its gonna be for me and my house. It just your opinion if I got dirt on my face. A lot of people agree with me … my group and my people side with me.
And if we don’t think we sin… then we don’t need the gospel anymore. Could it be that this is why the gospel does not motivate us? Messages on salvation is just for Christmas and easter? The bible instructs pastors to persevere in preaching the word in season and out… when its popular and when its not. The Bible instructs that the gospel should always be preached. Salvation always declared. Lets take a look at our passage today.
“Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;
I will gather the remnant who are left.
I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture.
Yes, your land will again
be filled with noisy crowds!
Your leader will break out
and lead you out of exile,
out through the gates of the enemy cities,
back to your own land.
Your king will lead you;
the Lord himself will guide you.”
The grass withers the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.
The Shepherd
The Breaker
The King
The first thing we will look at is the description of a shepherd as to how he will save his people. Second, we will look at the description of a breaker as to how He will save His people. And Finally, we will look at the description of a king as to how He will save His people.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to despair in addiction, condemnation, and discouragement, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of scripture that will cause us to see that we can be saved from condemnation and freed from all forms of captivity and bondage of the world.
I. The Shepherd
- He will gather His people.
A. There is a quick shift in the oracle where the Lord moves from judgement to salvation. Let us not forget that judgement is real, it is coming, and it will be terrible. And here we see the picture of salvation as a shepherd who is gathering his sheep. We did see the clear certainty of His judgement and now we will see the clear certainty of His salvation.
B. Again we see the promises of God given here are not vague aspirations of future, but firm, accurate, and reliable. It is God’s name and character here. He is surely gonna do this. He is surely gonna save them. And He surely did with the decree of Cyrus and the Israelites went back to the land. The judgement was clear and sure… and judgement happened. The salvation was clear and sure and salvation truly happened.
C. And the salvation is pictured by the gathering of the shepherd. Here God, as royal Shepherd, will gather his scattered people like sheep in a pen.
Dr. John Makay writes, “The links that Micah himself introduces in chapter 5 between the shepherding and the Messiah make it natural to see in the deliverance the Lord provided for his people at that time a foreshadowing of the deliverance he provides through the Good Shepherd of the sheep.”
D. And how does this foreshadow Christ? Christ is our good shepherd. And the scriptures constantly envisions Christ as the great and good shepherd.
Save your people!
Bless Israel, your special possession.
Lead them like a shepherd,
and carry them in your arms forever.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
For the Lamb on the throne
will be their Shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.
And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
E. He is the one who gathers us. He is the one who protects us. He is the one who will find the last sheep. He is the one who will guard us against the wolves. He makes sure we are not prey. He leads us to the water. He makes sure that we are fed and nourished.
F. Christ will guide us to all righteousness. Christ will lead us to peace that transcends all understanding. Christ will give us life and life more abundantly. Christ began a good work in us and He will bring it to completion. Christ died for our sins and he was buried, and he was raised on the 3rd day according to the scriptures. Christ came to seek and save that which was lost. Christ will show us the truth and the truth will make us free. Christ is our great intercessor. He is our great high priest. Christ is our king. Our savior and our great and good shepherd.
II. The Breaker
- Whom the son has set free is free indeed.
A. The Lord here in verse 13 is called the breaker. He is the one who breaks open the way out and as their leader, He leads his people out of the lands where they have been scattered and held captive. The significance: Simply… The Lord’s action enables his people to break through the city gate and exit the place of their confinement.
Dr. Makay writes, It is a word which speaks of power that sweeps all obstacles before it, effectively undermining and demolishing all that would resist it. It is a presentation of the Lord as a warrior overthrowing his enemies
B. Some commentators will also display something here that might unfortunately go unnoticed. But the picture is not that of a breaker who comes from outside to release those who are captive within some random prison. Not only is freedom provided for them by another one, but it is by one who has been with them, who has identified with them, and who has shared in their circumstances.
C. This is the wonders of our Lord, our Shepherd, our breaker. He is with us.
Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.
D. Christ is our breaker.
In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
E. So many times in life we think that we just can’t. But with Christ we can. Not only is our Lord able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think, He will do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think. He has done exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or imagine. And He is doing exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or imagine. Our Lord is right now sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. Doing all of this as our prophet preist and king
III. The King
- He will lead us.
A. He will defeat our enemies. The reality is that our giants in life are still standing. We threw everything we could think of at them and they are still standing? They just will not fall. They will not go away. It seems like life is having its way with me. I just cannot seem to get my head above water. No matter what I do, no matter what I try, no matter how much I pray, no matter how many sermons of Pastors Shane’s I suffer through, I just cannot beat my giants. I just cannot shake sin. I cannot shake that addiction. I cannot stop having a bad attitude. I cannot control myself. I cannot be disciplined. No matter what I do evil is right there with me. My giants will not fall.
B. That is because the story of David and Goliath is not there to teach us how to be a David. In the story, Christ is David and we are the terrified Israelites who were powerless against the giant. We were powerless against sin… against hell death and the grave. Powerless against sin, the effects of sin and the wrath of God?
C. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous no not one. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins. The wages of sin is death. We were powerless against the wrath of God. The judgement and wrath is coming, its real and it will be terrible. Is there any hope for us.
D. That is a big 10/4. There is hope for us today