The Greatest Sheep Keeper that the World has Ever Seen

Good Morning. I hope you are all well. I just want to say thanks to the youth band, who have been really good today, and also to my fellow students Laura and Jessie for all the hard work that they’ve put in. They’ve done a really great job.

Lets turn our attention to scripture now, and if you’ve got your bibles, if you could turn them on, that would be great, and we will be reading John chapter ten, verses twenty-two to thirty. The verses that I will actually be preaching on are verses twenty-seven to thirty, but I thought it would be best to give a little bit of context to help us in our time together this morning.

If you’ve got your bibles, if you could turn them on, that would be great, and we will be reading John chapter ten, verses twenty-two to thirty. The verses that I will actually be preaching on are verses twenty-seven to thirty, but I thought it would be best to give a little bit of context first.

So that’s John chapter ten, and verses twenty-two to thirty.

Pause.

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

Now that we’ve read, let’s pray together.

Thank you Lord that you are greater than all. I pray now that as we come to your word, that you would speak. Let my words be not my own, but be yours. Would you help us to hear your voice, that we may follow you ever more closely. It’s for your precious name I pray, Amen.

So,

Introduction

This morning I’ve got what I think is a pretty interesting question to ask, and it’s this: Have you ever felt like a sheep?

Now I know what you’re thinking… Well...No, Because I’m a human.

But here’s is what I mean. Have you ever felt really dirty, your hair was tatty, you’d not had a wash for a good while, so you were proper stinking, you forgot to brush your teeth so you had bad breath. To top it all off, people were keeping well back from you because of this. They could smell you before they saw you.

But imagine when you were at your most sheep-like, a shepherd comes alongside, calls you by name to follow him to clean you up, and in response you hear his voice and follow him. Well, it’s not too dissimilar to the chapter in which our passage sits that we’re looking at today.

Preceding out passage Jesus has shown himself to be the door of the sheep and the good shepherd: the one who calls his own by name, then leads them

Within the preceding passage in chapter 10, Jesus has shown himself to be the door of the sheep and the good shepherd: the one who calls his own sheep by name, then leads them, and they follow him in response. He makes the point that he came to let his sheep have life, and have it abundantly.

Sub-Introduction

This idea of the sheep of God is carried over into the latter half of the chapter, and more pointedly within the four verses that we are going to look at today. However, Jesus’ words here have more of a focus on the way that God keeps the sheep, rather than on the sheep themselves.

If I was going to produce a newspaper headline to tag across the side of this passage today, it would be (Extend arms high), ‘The Greatest Sheep Keeper that the World has Ever Seen’.

With that in mind, I want to ask a question before we set off today, and it’s this: What does God’s method of keeping sheep show us?

I’m hopefully going to answer that question today with four main points, one point for each verse. Now three of these points begin with the letter ‘I’, so keep your ears open for the three ‘Is’ of this sermon, and the last point will begin with the letter ‘O’, so keep your ears open for that one as well:

The first point, is that it shows us the Identity of the sheep. We’ll see this in verse twenty-seven; The second is that it shows us the Integrity of the Son. We’ll see this in verse twenty-eight; The third is that it shows us The Immensity of the Father. We’ll tease that out of verse twenty-nine; and finally this passage shows us the Oneness of God. We’ll see that in our final verse this morning, verse thirty.

The Identity of the Sheep

So, without further ado, let’s jump into it.

The Integrity of the Son

The Immensity of the Father

Link back to the feast of dedication and the fact that was used as a song to sing which speaks of God’s faithfulness.

Also, link orange analogy here as well.

: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

1 Corinthian 15:10: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

The Oneness of God

Conclusion and Application

So we’ve now looked at what the text is teaching us. The big question now is, ‘How does we apply this to our lives here and now in 2018?’

Well first of all, I wonder what difference it might make if we really found our identity in Christ as the good shepherd. How might that empower us to proclaim His goodness and faithfulness: on the school run, or around the coffee machine at work, or perhaps in the play-yard at school? Because, we’ve seen from this passage that he is trustworthy, so let’s yearn to hear his voice and follow his leading all the more and entrust every part of ourselves into his hand.

And secondly, how might we work all the more harder for God, based on the fact that he is the one who keeps us going. Whether that be further pushing ourselves to share His good news with our friends, or maybe some of us this morning need challenging to work harder for our jobs, so that others may see the goodness of God in us through our example and our words.

Whatever your situation, put these points directly into them.

And finally as the musicians come up, let us finish with this:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.