John 10:11-21

Near the Shepherd, Far from the wolves

On Friday I got a call and I immediately thought that it was possible a scam phone call.

I pick it up and hope I am wrong as I always do. I always pick up even If I don’t know the number because I am really bad at saving contacts in my phone and I want to available to you even If I don’t have your number saved.

Anyways I pick up and it’s a robot telling me that Canada post confiscated my package and I need to connect to a agent.

Who would’ve hung up there?

Ok so I didn’t I gave the benefit of the doubt that maybe there is a package that got stopped. See it’s easy to start falling into these scam traps, even I am not immune to them.

So I connected with “agent David” and he told me some awful and I need you all to know that someone is “shipping” some “ilegal items” he didn’t state what that was… from the states to of all places in the world my house…

Ok so the defences go up and I know that this is a scam.

Anyways “agent david” wants to get further in but before he gets there he needs to make sure that he can complete the scam. So he asks a really important question,

“Are you alone right now”?

Do you know why thats important to him? Isolate makes us vulnerable, if I had people around me they would tell me thats a scam, so they want to isolate me so I can’t ask questions that help me discern the truth.

Isolation is something that can get us into trouble. The more isolated become the more open we leave ourself for issues of sin and destruction.

Becuase Isolation tells us that we don’t need others help, we can do it ourself.

So today as we look at John 10:11-21 I hope that you pick up the tension in the text between isolation and connection.

Jesus continues to talk about the shepherd and the sheep and he talks about us as sheep coming closer to be with the shepherd so lets read.

John 10:11–13 NIV

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Jesus tells us that he is the good shepherd, and what is the quality of the good shepherd?

Well a shepherd is to take care of his flock, the shepherd moves them from pasture to pasture. The shepherd is to protect the flock.

Psalm 23:4 NIV

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Yes a shepherds role includes protection from wild animals and for the sake of this text the wolf or wolves. The shepherd is to protect the sheep. If you are own anything you care about you want to protect it, I want to protect my car from scratches and such.

However what makes Jesus THE GOOD Shepherd? better then the rest? It’s not the things I listed that give him the good quality, those are aspects of the shepherd. The GOOD Shepherd’s qualifier that makes him good is that he would lay down his life for his Sheep.

See his comparison to the hired hand. The hired hand runs in danger, the wolf comes and so he abandons it becuase of self preservation, fear that if they step in between the wolf and the sheep they would die for it.

They have nothing to gain from protecting the whole flock, if a sheep dies but the rest live, they get paid. They might be a lousy hired hand but they still get paid.

There is no benefit for the hired hand to stand in the face of danger.

Now a regular shepherd has some ownership, it is there flock after all, they will stand in the face of danger but when it comes down to the boiling point of the shepherd or the sheep, they will choose self every time.

So The Good Shepherd who is Jesus he tells us that the reason he is the good shepherd is sole based on the fact that he would stand in the face of the wolf and not back down even until death. The Good Shepherd will die for his sheep and that is why he is elevated about any other shepherd.

Good because He lays down His life for me.

Jesus can see the wolf coming for the sheep, steps in between and he will die for the sake of his sheep.

Now this happens, Christ dies for us on the cross he hangs and dies so that we may have forgiveness of sin.

However in those three days that Jesus is dead, death thinks it’s won, evil thinks they are victorious. Because lets not forget that there is evil in this world, the enemy does exist. So the Wolf is a real character in our stories.

Although not often do we call him a wolf, we must acknowledge that there are spiritual forces that wish to keep us apart from the love of God.

The wolf wants what the shepherds has, that is the sheep to eat and devour.

So trickery, luring which we call temptation, challenges, sickness, pain all happen becuase it’s easier to separate a unhappy sheep from their shepherd.

Last week we talked about being near to the shepherd and being in God’s pressence in the deep and intimate relationship. Now I want to tell you that the closer you stand to the Jesus the less effect the enemy can have on you becuase the Good shepherd will always lay down his life in defence of you.

He has died for you already, don’t you think that you are of great importance to him that he will gladly stand between you and danger any day.

But the challenge for you is to know that Jesus will always do that, The wolf attacks the flock and scatters it without the Good Shepherd present.

Church if you do not want to be attacked and scattered you must be in the pressence God. Individually but also as a congregation, seeking more of his pressence every single day.

How do you respond to the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the flock? The Flock must get closer, to move into, to surround, to sit with, to lay down beside, to be near the Good Shepherd.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd becuase in laying down his life for the flock he is also the protector

Good because He protects me

Church be close to Jesus.

The enemy is looking for three things.

The enemy is looking for people who are not paying attention to the shepherd.

If you look at the previous ten verses the sheep follow his voice, he brings them out and goes ahead of them. This is the nearness.

The world is filled with distractions and ways to make you disconnected to what the shepherd is doing. But those who are aware of what Jesus is doing even today! they are hard to pull away becuase the shepherd is bringing them all in as verse 16 says. Stay aware of how god is working church.

People who are alone.

They have no support system, this is both nearness to the shepherd and the sheep. If you are in the pasture but not near the shepherd or the sheep you are a target.

The enemy loves isolation, he hates when we gather. he hates that you came to church today and he hates that we sing his praises. So keep that up.

You’ll have to wait to hear number three tho.

*

Jesus knows of the enemy and tells us of thief, robbers and wolves but he tells us that the distance we can create from the enemy is found in the nearness to jesus. When we closer to jesus we are moving away from the enemy. so in verse 14 he tells us this:

Choice

John 10:14–15 NIV

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Again Jesus tell us that he is the Good Shepherd, that he knows us and that we know him. But this is significant because of what he has said and what he will be saying.

That the reason Jesus lays down his life is because of his love for you. It’s not because the Father forces him to lay down his life.

Jesus is comparing himself to God the Father, read it again with me,

I know my sheep and my sheep know me Just like God

God knows me and I know God - But I also lay down my life for the sheep.

It’s this amazing love that Christ love us and he choses to lay down his life for us. Jesus takes this role of Good shepherd upon himself and tells us that as God is a good shepherd, then because he will die for us he is the Good Shepherd.

Jesus tells us of the relationship he has with the Father, the relationship he has with us and then ends with the addition that he dies for us as the physical representation. We have surpassed just the knowledge of love but the physical representation of love.

If you love someone in a romantic way what is the physical representation of your love?

The ring!

So in our relationship with Jesus the physical representation of his love is his death on the cross. This reminds us when we look at it that Jesus loves us!

He doesn’t just know us but he acted on it.

Just as John 3:16

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

You are known and loved by God. If there is ever a day you forget that. Look to the cross. You’ll be quickly reminded that Jesus laid down his life to save you from sin. That he is near to you and calls you to be near to him.

Jesus points to his relationship with the Father and invites us to be close like that. So what’s pulling you away from the shepherd?

Listen we talked about the pasture through the gate, you must enter by Christ accepting forgiveness for your sins.

However when you enter into the pasture this is more of what the flock will look like.

Because Jesus invites us all to nearness and closeness with him, but distance is not linear, its in all directions. I had said that nearness to Jesus means distance to the enemy but you need to hear that again becuase distance from the enemy does not mean nearness to Jesus- that’s just buying you time.

Becuase we know wolves chase and run after their prey

But our defence, our shepherd who dies for us to have life and live it to the full will gladly stand in the pressence of danger for us.

Distance from the enemy is buying time

Nearness to Jesus is distance from the enemy

Unity of the Church

But we read verse 16 and Jesus does not just talk about us individually but as a church.

John 10:16 NIV

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

The Author of this gospel John is the only writer to use flock to talk about the church.

Jesus tells us that our understanding of flock is not supposed to be isolating in itself.

Jesus tells us that we are not to be inward focused and concentrate on ourselves. It’s not the flock of Prince Albert Alliance Church, it’s bigger then that.

It’s not the flock of Prince Albert. there is more sheep then that.

It’s bigger then our province and even our country.

Jesus says they shall be one flock and one shepherd. This complete unity, all the sheep are gathered together and close to Jesus.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd becuase he brings us together

Good because He brings us together

So we must be aware that we are apart of the greater Church, not greater or lower then any other gathering. But Christ wants all of us together. This is something that will take place that Jesus will gather all christians from every nation, every tribe, every tounge.

So we as a body of believers must know that Christs desire to gather all his people at one that they might be one flock and have one shepherd.

During the Alpha conference in London this is one of their clear goals of their gathering that those coming to participate witness the unified gathering.

With 71 nations

Speaking a multitude of languages that I cannot speak

From every denomination you have heard and many more you have not heard of.

One unified body of believers who follows the good shepherd.

The enemy wants us to be separated as isolated individuals but even in our flock to flock interactions. We must be active within our body of believers as Prince Albert Alliance Church but we cannot neglect what is happening in the greater Church and my firm recommendation is to look at the multitude of Churches in Prince Albert.

Listen to me clearly, I am not against denominations. The reformation has been a powerful movement for Christianity.

However we cannot build up walls between others of the same belief but different values. We have one Shepherd, that is why we are one flock.

Move away from divisive practices within our own body of believers but even in the greater witnessing of Christ. Because when we gather at the throne of God at the end of this earth we will not gather as denominations, or nations, we will not pay attention to tribes or tongues. There will just be Jesus before us and praise around us, so lets practice that in all we do.

As the last session of Alpha conference is happening this elder of a church start chatting we me and we are talking about what is happening in our churches.

A fellow Canadian, if I am remembering right a small town in Ontario.

But he starts talking about all the things happening in London, the revival of believers. He just says “we want Holy Spirit to do that in our church and our town”. So me and I think mark joined in at this point we pray for them that many would come to Jesus in their town and their church would be filled with new people seeking Jesus.

We finish the prayer and Pastor Mark says “What church are you from”. They answered and I shook myself and said oh I am the problem, because if that questions was asked before we prayed, I might have not prayed, or if I did it wouldn’t have been genuine.

It was a moment in time were the reality of the kingdom of God set into my heart and I said the difference between you and me is not that great because we are both here with the shepherd.

So we cannot be divided by any means, we have one shepherd and so we live in one flock.

Choice

Now Jesus finishes his parable of the Shepherd and the sheep by bring it back to his future death and also ressurection, lets read that together.

John 10:17–21 NIV

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to 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 authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Now Jesus repeats that he will lay down his life. He says that he receives the command by the father but Jesus and Jesus alone has the authority to lay it down. Although it may be a command from the Father it is also his choice.

This is important to note, Jesus is not a victim of circumstance, he was not propelled in the world to die with out any say in the matter.

One thing talked about by those believe is that God is mean or evil because he forced his son to die. That is not true at all. Jesus gives himself willing to death for the people he loves, so that he can be the sacrifice for their sin. He dies so you don’t have to.

His choice and we see that close to his actual death where Jesus and Pilate are speaking, read with me:

John 19:10–11 NIV

“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

Jesus is in control of his own destiny, he has the authority and the call from the father to do what is needed so we could be in right relationship with Him.

So this passage concludes with the division of the Jewish people, some claiming Jesus is demon possessed and some claiming that he is not a demon and they refer back to John 9, and remember there is no time skip in these two chapters so far, they are happening within the same day.

So what must we do?

Through out this whole parable we see two things:

The Shepherds heart - To lay down his life for the Sheep, he does so willingly becuase of his love for you

The Protectors Heart - Both in the form of the gate and the shepherd who defends

Both of these must not be separated from each other. They act in a joint fashion.

The shepherd pulls us in closer because of his love for us, that we want to come inclose with the Shepherd. To sit and be nearest to the shepherd that we can because he is the one who loves us unconditionally that he would die for us.

The shepherd also wants to pull us in closer because he knows of the threats that remain in the world. As the Jews talk they even recognize the reality of Demons. There is a spiritual war happening around us and the battle is for our souls.

as I said the enemies desire is for you to be isolated:

From Christ

From the local church

From the greater Church

However our shepherd over the whole flock invites us all to sit closer, in love and protecting. To rely on him for the forgiveness of sins and from the protection of the occult.

If you are aware of the spiritual opposition in your life, the enemy is trying to attack and scatter the flock as verse 12 says. Isolation is where we are vulnerable becuase we need to protection of our God.

So Church I want to invite you into self examination once again, to know where you might be lacking the presence of the Shepherd.

Do you find yourself in the corner of the pasture, If you entered by the gate, accepted redemption and salvation then you are invited into the pasture and into the pressence of God.

Do you find yourself as a sheep who is wearing his headphones and sunglasses, too cool for the other sheep. saying “I don’t need them I got the shepherd”. Isolation from God is closeness to the enemy but isolation from each other allows us to miss discernment and intercessory prayer. We start to become cynical and critical of faith and faith systems.

Lastly do you find yourself with the narrow view of what is happening in the Kingdom? We can also become cynical and critical if we only look at what is happening in our church and miss the bigger picture. God is on the move in Prince Albert, in Sask and Canada and internationally and we can’t get to narrow and only see this flock.

Everything the enemy does in trying to isolate you is trying to pull you away from the pressence of God.

That we become to focused on ourselves, that we miss what God is doing.

You don’t want to miss what God is doing and I want to invite you into the nearness of relationship in the same order of priority that the enemy wants to pull you away from.

That you would have nearness to Jesus

Maybe thats recommitting your life to him. Begining to pray again, to start talking with the saviour of the world.

That you would have nearness to each other, spur each other on in faith and seeing God work in their lives.

Maybe that is getting invested in community groups, a group of people that you can follow God with and see God working in.

Maybe this is your own family and you just need to carve the time in the week to sit down at the table, read some scripture and pray for the people you love.

That you would have nearness to all believers, witnessing how God is on the move around the world.

Maybe this is reading what God is doing around the world or going international to participate in it.

Maybe this is getting involved in whats happening around Prince Albert for the building of God’s Kingdom.

I don’t know how God is calling you to respond this morning. So I want to invite you to pray and receive his direction.

Would you put out your hands in this posture. When I pray like this I am telling my own heart that I want to hear and receive what the Lord has for me, so get ready.

It’s not to show others how spiritual I am, I am literally telling myself to listen up and don’t miss what God wants to do.

If you find that uncomfortable thats alright, but please still pray for Holy Spirit to guide us in response with me.