The Shepherd, the sheep, and the thief

WELCOME:

We had a great time Wednesday. I think we were here for about 2 hours and just really enjoyed our time together. We got this whole church cleaned, made plans for some updates and it went by so quick. Y’all are some hard workers!

SCRIPTURE READING:

Isaiah 40:9–11 NASB95

Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

(YOOZ)

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“The Goodness of God”

Words and Music by Hillsong’

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord, thank you for your constancy. For never turning Your back on us, for never getting frustrated with us, for forgiving our sins, for allowing us to be part of Your plan. We ask that You would look down upon this gathering of people and fill our hearts with great joy today as we focus on You. Amen!

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

“What a beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord, give us ears to hear Your voice and eyes to see Your glory. Would you this morning illuminate Your Word and make it known to us? Help us no to make application to others peoples’ lives, but to apply every Word to our own lives. Amen

SERMON

INTRODUCTION:

“The Shepherd, the sheep, and the thief”. John 10 is a very well known chapter in the Bible, very well loved, but often misunderstood, therefore misapplied, and therefore the truths that Jesus is teaching in this chapter are missed.

So what we are going to do today is walk through the first 21 verses of John 10, study it in its context, so we can extract its true meaning, and then make some application of that into our lives.

I want us to first read these verses then we’ll go back and take them section by section

READ JOHN 10:1-21

~PRAYER~

The parable of the Good Shepherd (v 1-6)

Parables use real life examples to teach spiritual truths. And one reason why we love this parable is because of the way it presents Christ to us: As a loving Shepherd who takes care of His sheep. But what we must do is identify who each of these are in this parable.

Good Bible interpretation keeps in mind context. When the Bible was put together it did not have chapter and verse divisions. Those were not added until the 13th century to help people reference things easier. put in

Look at verse 1, “truly, truly, I say to YOU”. Who is the “you” that Jesus is talking to? The word is plural so it would be better translated “ya’ll”.

Where is Jesus in John 10:1? He just got done telling the blind man in chapter 9 that He is the Son of Man and that the Pharisees are still blind because they refuse to acknowledge Jesus’ deity even though He just made a blind man see!

His location has not changed, and so those who were present are those named in John 9 and this entire parable is given because of what had just happened!

So Jesus is speaking to all those people who were present during that episode: The blind man, the Pharisees, His disciples, and any bystanders who were there at that time.

What does that matter? Because now that we know who Jesus was speaking to, then we can identify the characters in Jesus’ parable accurately.

Let’s begin with the Shepherd

John 10:1–2 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.”

If you look down in verse 11, you will see that Jesus says He is the good Shepherd.

Now what does a shepherd do?

A shepherd keeps watch over the flock. He is responsible for thew well being of his sheep and so He leads them, makes sure they are fed and watered, and protects them from predators, He tends to the needs of His sheep.

The “fold” is an enclosure where the sheep would stay to be protected. The idea is like a walled in area where predators could not get to the sheep.

There is a door into the sheep fold which is how the sheep would go in and out and find pasture.

Spiritually speaking, Jesus is the Good Shepherd who shepherds His people.

David said it like this:

Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake”

But David did not know Jesus!

Oh yes he did!

Psalm 110:1 “The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.””

Jesus referenced this very verse from psalm 110 and said this was about Him.

What Jesus is saying here in John 10 is that the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23, is Him! Who David wrote about was Him!

Then who are the thieves and robbers?

Well back to context: who was trying to shepherd the people in john chapter 9? The Pharisees and the Scribes!

In John 9 it was the Pharisees who called the blind man into the synagogue to question him about his healing.

It was the Pharisees are the ones who called the man’s parents into the synagogue to question them.

It was the Pharisees who came out to Jesus and question him.

So the thieves and robbers here are the Pharisees who were false shepherds to God’s people.

They were false because they did not enter through the only door into the sheepfold.

What is the door?

John 10:7 “So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

They were were not qualified to shepherd the sheep, because they rejected Jesus who was the one and only door into the fold.

See they tried to go around Jesus, would not believe Jesus, would not lay themselves down before Jesus like that blind man, they thought they could make their own way to God.

That means that Jesus is the one who permits passages into the sheep fold. Other translations say He is the gate.

The Shepherd knows the sheep personally and leads them

John 10:3 NASB95

“To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

“he calls his own sheep by name” (the Shepherd)

That is Jesus knows every sheep that belongs to Him in a very personal way.

This is not a Shepherd who interacts with a flock in a general manner as one big group. He knows each of His own by their name.

He knows what we enjoy, what makes us happy, what we excel at, what our gifts are, what we long for, what we struggle with.

The Bible says he knows the number of hairs of your head. He cares about the details of your life! Its not about owning us, its about knowing us personally.

“and leads them out”

The Shepherd does not just know His sheep, he leads His sheep. He guides them in the way they should go. His sheep are not left to their own best judgements in life, and left to figure things out on their own…they have a guide, a Shepherd who is leading them in their journey of life.

And every good Shepherd has a staff. And that staff has a hook that fits around that sheep’s neck and pulls him back on the right path when he wanders off.

David said, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me”

Application: If you are one of God’s sheep, He will not let you wander off too far. And since that is true we should not walk through this world so worried that we are going to make the wrong decision on the way we should walk.

You have something in Jesus that this world does not have! A SHEPHERD! And if you take a wrong turn, He is going to pull you back on the right path. He will not let you walk so far that you destroy your life! He will not let you wander away into dangerous disobedience

Now let’s look at the sheep

John 10:4–5 (NASB95)

“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The emphasis now changes from the shepherds to the sheep:

“the sheep follow Him”

The Sheep only follow the Shepherd because they know His voice

Here is a characteristic of a sheep, they know the voice of their Shepherd! They are not deceived by those who pretend to be shepherds, or desire to be shepherds but have climbed up some other way! Or false teachers or false leaders who claim to speak for God but do not!

Not only will they not follow them, but they will run for their lives….Why? Because they know that the voice they hear is not the voice of Jesus and not the true Shepherd

Matthew 24:24 ““For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

There is a big difference between the way Jesus speaks and the way false shepherds speak. Not everyone who claims to speak for God, truly does. And we as the church must understand that and beware and run for our lives.

Never have I ever seen so many people trying to shepherd the church today through facebook, and You-Tube, and books, and TV series, and podcasts all these platforms reaching millions if not billions of people!

Anyone who speaks differently than the Lord Jesus is a thief and a robber! Anyone who does not enter through the door is a thief and robber

That includes that really popular Christian speakers that say some things that just don’t seem quite right

That includes those who right great books, or preach great sermons, but live lives contrary to the calling of a faithful Christian life

That includes these people who are obsessed end times thought and that is all they talk about….neglecting all other more important aspects of Christianity that give sheep the well rounded diet that they need to be healthy!

That includes women pastors who call themselves shepherds of the church….yet violate the clear teaching of Scripture that the office of pastor if for a man not a woman and that women are not permitted to teach over men

There will be many people you hear in your life that will say things that just seem off a little…and sometimes off by much.

Run from them! Stay away from them!

But how will we know?

Because we know the voice of the true Shepherd (v 4).

And that voice must not be confused with same mystic voice inside us that is often people’s own thinking. Not that God cannot and will not impress things upon our hearts.

But the voice we know to be that of Jesus is recorded for us in the Word of God.

The best and most pure expression of the voice of Jesus is what we read on the pages of the gospels.

We learn about the heart of Jesus, the way Jesus interacted with people, the things He said, the way He spoke, all that He did…

And what you will find is that what Jesus says is much different than what the world often says Jesus says.

Those movies that put Jesus in those long flowing robes and curly hair….thats not Jesus. Thats the Jesus the world likes. That’s the Jesus that brings money into the box office. But if you want to know what Jesus was really like, you’ve got to read His words for yourself!

Jesus is the door into the kingdom of God

John 10:7–10 NASB95

So Jesus said to them again, “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 hear them. “I am the door; if anyone enters through 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.

Explanation:

Jesus says He is “the door of the sheep…

That is there is no other way to become a sheep except through Jesus.

This is a core doctrine of Christianity that is non-negotiable! That is no one can be a Christian and not believe that no one comes to the Farther except through Jesus.

And that means for one to come to the Father through Jesus must also mean it must happen the way Jesus says it must happen: Forsaking our sin and trusting in Christ!

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved”

Anyone. No qualifications here. No white collar crowd only. And not just the poor. No white skin only. No morally upright only. ANYONE

That is you may be sitting here this morning and have things in your heart right now that you would die if anyone knew. And you have tried to clean yourself up but you have failed. And Jesus would say to you this morning, even right in the middle of your sin, turn from that life and turn to Christ, repent and trust Him by faith, and “he will be saved”.

But saved from what? Have you ever wondered what Jesus saves us from? He saves us from our sin. Not just the power of sin, but the consequences of our sin which is hell.

I have a dog names moose who is a grafted in member of our family. He is a great dog. The most Obedient dog I have ever had, will do JUST ABOUT anything I tell him. And we all love him.

But he is a lab. And labs just have this thing with game birds. He is obsessed with them. I have never seen a dog who cannot control himself when one of these birds start flapping their wings and screaming. Something clicks in his mind that says KILL, KILL, KILL!. And he wants to kill.

So i had someone coming to get this bird the other day and here comes Moose. He knows he is not supposed to bark or try to bite this chicken, but guess what he does as soon as I get him in the net…he has to almost bite him once.

And I have scolded him a thousand times over this and nothing changes. And I thought why does he not get it? Ahh, because its his instinct. Its what he’s been bred to do. Something about a bird fluttering does something in him that he cannot control, and all he hears is KILL, KILL, KILL..

The same is true for a sinner and sin. The sinner cannot control himself when it comes to sin. He cant because its his nature to sin.

But when one turns to Jesus, Jesus breaks that power of sin in his life, freeing him from that impulse to sin, and freeing him from the consequences of that sin.

Thats what Jesus saves us from. He saves us from our sin…

Now finally let’s identify the thief

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”

Now imagine a person who did not care for his animals in a humane way. Maybe you know someone or have known someone who has owned animals and treated them poorly. They are hungry, they are cold, they tied to short chains and given very little freedom if any freedom at all. They are abused, sometimes beaten, whipped, neglected, and rarely if ever do they receive any love from their master. They live miserable lives often dying before their time due to malnutrition and mistreatment.

“The thief has come to steal, kill, and destroy”.

Now I imagine that we have all heard that this thief is referring to Satan. But that is not who Jesus is talking about in these chapters. He is talking to the false shepherds who have been entrusted to shepherd Israel but have failed, have pointed people away from Jesus, rather than to Jesus, despite all evidence even healing a blind man in their midst still told the blind man he is wrong and kicked him out of the synagogue.

The thief in this chapter are the Pharisees, and religious leaders who teach false doctrine, manmade laws as if they were God’s Laws, legalists, unfaithful people who teach and lead but are unqualified to do so because they have not entered the sheepfold through the door.

POINT: Any kind of teaching and shepherding that does not fully align with Scripture has come to kill, steal, and destroy.

That is what false teaching, and man-made ideas, and man-made religion does to the people.

To offer religion without Christ is theft. It steals the joy away that comes with knowing Christ.

To offer salvation without calling for repentance and faith in Jesus is to kill the souls of those who may even believe they are on the narrow path to life.

To offer church membership with no walls, no door, no sheepfold is to destroy the peaceful gathering of God’s people…

What is being taught MATTER! Leadership matters! And it is not to be judged upon what man thinks or wants, but according to the Word of God!

How many are dying, being robbed, and being destroyed by false doctrine that is taught today?

“But I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly”

The real Jesus of Scripture gives life and gives it abundantly.

Imagine once again a man with a group of sheep. But unlike the first man who neglected and abused and starved them, this Shepherd took good care of them. They had the finest pasture you could ever imagine. They were so fat and healthy. They were so loved. He would watch over them, their wool glistened in the sunlight.

He led them in the way they should go to give them the best possible life. He made them rest when they needed rest. They had life abundantly!

The word abundant means to have life in an extraordinary amount (BDAG).

The life Jesus gives to His sheep is so rich, so meaningful, so full, so extraordinary. That to not have it is to miss out on everything.

Now this is not talking about a lot of money, or pleasure, or worldly things like that.

The abundant life is this deep satisfaction that can only come through the Good Shepherd.

David says is like this: Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

Maybe thats what Jesus is saying to some in here today who have been led by false teachers and false leaders.

Maybe that is what Jesus is saying to some who have missed out on the true Jesus of the Bible that requires one to give up his life in order to have a new abundant life.

And maybe that is what Jesus is reminding some of us of, who have it so good, we have forgotten what life was like before Jesus..

One Flock, One Shepherd

John 10:16–18 NASB95

“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Explanation:

“I have other sheep who are not of this fold”

What Jesus is talking about are the Gentiles. Those in His hearing were the Jews. And the Jews believed salvation was only for them.

But Jesus is saying that there will be people outside the Jews who are His sheep and will come to know Him.

Those such as the Samaritan woman at the well and those she witnessed to (John 4)

The Canaanite woman In Matt 15.

Cornelius in Acts 10.

On and on AND every one of us in here today who are not of Jewish blood decent are sheep who are not of that fold

“And they will hear His voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd”

That is every person who comes to Christ is of the same flock and under the same Shepherd.

Now we as people love to divide us up. We love denominations. We have 44 different churches in Christian County and some right next to each other.

We love to to divide the rich from the poor.

Differences based on the color of our skin.

Differences based upon culture: mennonite church, baptist church, catholic church.

But this says, there is but one flock. Just one.

Now I am not saying that every church is the same. Nor am I saying that every church is sound or faithful or has faithful men leading them.

But I am saying that we are all of one flock, and it would do the church much good to see the church in this way rather than enemies of one another..

(v 17) ““For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

There is an emphasis on the fact that Jesus lays down His life, and Jesus takes up again (speaking of the resurrection). No one took Jesus’ life, He gave it willingly for you and I so that we may become sheep in His flock. So that we may have life, and have it abundantly. So that we may know the Father intimately and have eternal life.

John 10:19–21 NASB95

A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”

Now the religious leaders are divided into two groups. Those who believe in Jesus. Those who do not.

The same division exists today.

Those who follow Jesus, those who hear Him, know His voice, are led by Him, loved by Him, have been given life by Him….and those who follow the voice of a stranger.

Which one are you?

~PRAYER~