JESUS LEADS ME

Introduction

-Today want to talk about Jesus’ leadership in our lives

-What do you picture when you think of a leader? Some pictures we come up with of leaders may be good or bad. On the good side we might think of a military hero leading his troops to victory. But maybe on the bad side you think of an incompetent boss that you’ve had in your past

~That reminds me of a funny story I read:

There was a man in a hot air balloon who realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a man below. He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude." "You are obviously a technical person," said the balloonist. "I am," replied the man, "but how did you know?" "Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me at all."

The man below responded, "You must be in management." "I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

-We know that when someone is a poor leader they are very hard to follow, but when someone is a good leader we respect their position and are inspired to follow their lead because they have garnered our trust.

-Although, throughout history, most leaders are not perfect, there is one who is both divine and human who is the perfect leader, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ

-In the passage we are reading today Jesus gives a picture of who He is as a leader and expects a response of trust and obedience in following Him

-We want to look at the picture of Jesus’ leadership to see why it is we ought to trust in and submit to His leadership in every area of our lives as He demonstrates constant care and wise guidance for us

John 10:1–6 ESV

1 “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. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

-In this passage I see four attributes of Christ’s leadership that give reasons to submit to and trust in Christ’s leadership in every area of our lives:

I) Jesus has legitimate authority

-Let me put this passage in its context:

~Jesus had given sight to a blind man and caused a commotion amongst the religious leaders who were angry that He performed this miracle on a Sabbath day

~Although there was debate among them about whether or not Jesus was sent by God, the vast majority of them saw Jesus as a charlatan at best and a devil at worst

-In an ironic twist, the man born physically blind was given both his physical sight and spiritual sight which lead to a profession of faith in Christ

~On the other hand, the religious leaders had their physical sight and claimed to have spiritual sight such that they claimed to be able to lead others, but Jesus declares that they are blind to the truths of who He is and what God is really doing, therefore they are the charlatans

-So, in response to these religious leaders who claim to have sight, Jesus gives them a picture of what it is that they are missing, and as it says in v. 6 they still don’t get it—they are willfully blind to Jesus’ person and works

-While the Jewish religious leaders claim to be true spiritual leaders, Jesus contrasts Himself to them, and those who desire God’s works and ways will be able to discern who is the true leader sent from God

-So, in looking at the picture, Jesus makes a contrast and shows who the true leader of God is

-Let’s look at the overall picture first:

~Shepherds and sheep were common in 1st century Judea. The picture is of a compound where a sheep pen surrounded by a high brick wall encloses as many as three or four flocks of sheep for the night. There is only one way in and out of that pen and that doorway is protected by a hired worker who knows what shepherds have sheep in the pen, and he will only allow those shepherds in.

-Jesus pictures Himself as the legitimate shepherd that is allowed in the door to get to the sheep. The gatekeeper allows the shepherd to go in recognizing the authority the shepherd has to tend to the flock.

-But Jesus says that there are other people who try to get to the sheep, but they have to climb the wall to get to them. Since they did not go in through the door they are not legitimate shepherds and intend harm to the sheep.

-In this picture Jesus is the real shepherd, but the Jewish religious leaders are the thieves and robbers. They make a move at leading people, claiming that they have been sent by God, but they are not the true shepherd/leader

-Jesus warns us that there are many people claiming authority to lead people, but they will not lead the people rightly—instead, they will lead the sheep to their own destruction

-Only Jesus has the legitimate authority to lead God’s sheep because only Christ was sent by God to sacrifice Himself for the sheep and give the sheep life

-Many religions and religious leaders have come and gone over the millennia claiming to have spiritual sight and claiming to lead people down the right path:

~Muhammed had his five pillars~~Buddha had his eight-fold path~~Hinduism has its millions of gods~~Scientologists have their Thetans ~~Jehovah’s witnesses have their watchtower ~~Mormons have their exalted man

-But all of these religions and all of these leaders were robbers and thieves that had no authority from God to lead people spiritually

~Jesus is the one and only unique Savior from God and Jesus is the one and only unique Shepherd and Leader of God’s people

-And my plea with you today is not to be taken in by some false religion—Jesus alone has legitimate authority given by God—follow Him

II) Jesus relates on an individual basis

-in v. 3 it says that the gatekeeper will let the true shepherd in and it says that the shepherd calls his own sheep by name

-I want you to get this picture in your head:

~In the sheep pen there are actually several flocks put together. That means, then, that several shepherds have their sheep all bunched together. So, if a shepherd wanted to take his own unique flock out of the pen and out into the pasture or whatever, he needs to separate his sheep from everybody else’s sheep.

-Now, this is the amazing thing in that day. The shepherd was so intimate and familiar with his sheep that he could tell which of the sheep was his. And not only that, he knew each of them on a first-name basis and called each of them to follow him.

~When the shepherd got his sheep he didn’t just yell: COME ON SHEEP! He would call out each name: COME ON SALLY! COME ON BOBBY! COME ON SHAUN! And as I will touch on in a second, the sheep recognize his voice and follow

-This is amazing since to me every sheep looks the same, but the shepherd can tell them apart and knows which ones belong to him and calls them by name

-And so, the picture that Jesus is giving is that He knows each of us and relates to each of us on an individual basis—Jesus loves and cares about you for you

~Jesus doesn’t yell out: COME ON CHURCH, FOLLOW ME! Jesus says, “Al, I love you as an individual, I care for you as an individual, and I want to lead you in this life, so follow Me.”

-I think of Jesus’ parable about leaving the 99 sheep to find the 1 that has gone away—that means that Jesus knows when we stray and looks for us as an individual

~It’s not like Jesus counted the sheep expecting 100 and found only 99 but didn’t know who was missing. The picture is noticing one is missing, knowing who it is, and then going after that one to bring him or her back

-You see, to Jesus you are not just part of a group. You are not just a cog in the machine. You are not a small fish in a large corporation. You are you. He loves you. He cares for you. And He wants to lead you. He has plans for you.

~With Jesus you will not get lost in the crowd. He sees you. He knows you intimately. And He wants to lead you. The question is: WILL YOU FOLLOW?

III) Jesus leads by personal guidance

-I want you to notice first in v. 3 that it says the shepherd calls the sheep by name and leads them out; and then in v. 4 it says when he has brought out all his own he goes before them

-Did you notice that? It says that the shepherd leads the sheep and goes before them. It does not say that the shepherd drives the sheep, meaning, he doesn’t go behind them and force them to go a certain direction by whipping them. They aren’t driven like cattle. Sheep are led, and the shepherd goes before them.

-Jesus is not some CEO that sits at the top of the pyramid expecting the people below Him to do the work while He sits in His cushy office. When Jesus leads, He goes out in the trenches with the sheep leading them along the way so that they go where He wants while He leads them safely to the destination He has for them.

-During WWII General Eisenhower used to use a simple piece of string to demonstrate the art of leadership. He'd place the string on a table and say, "Pull it and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it and it will go nowhere at all."

~A real leader is with the people actually leading—and that’s Jesus. He leads us. He is with us.

-That doesn’t mean that Jesus will only lead His sheep in safe places. If you think about Psalm 23 for a second. Yes, the shepherd makes the sheep lie down in green pastures and leads them beside still waters.

~But sometimes the sheep go through valleys of the shadow of death. But what does the Psalm say? It says, “YOU ARE WITH ME! YOUR ROD AND YOUR STAFF, THEY COMFORT ME!”

~That means that Jesus is with us in the valley. But the thing is, sometimes Jesus leads us into the valley, not to harm us, but for our good and His glory.

-But Jesus doesn’t expect us to go somewhere that He isn’t present with us leading us that way.

-For example, Jesus wants us to be fishers of men. But He didn’t just tell us to be fishers of men. Jesus Himself went out and fished for men and told His disciples and tells us to come with Him and be fishers of men.

-The good shepherd leads the sheep out. The good shepherd goes before the sheep. And that is Jesus. Jesus personally goes with us and guides us in this life. He doesn’t just bark out orders. He shepherds His people.

IV) Jesus has a recognizable voice

-In v. 3 it says that the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd. At the end of v. 4 it says the sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice.

-What Jesus is saying is that when people are in a right relationship with God through Him they will listen to and believe in His words and commandments and will follow.

~When you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit within you will enlighten Jesus’ words and you will be able to discern that which is of Christ and that which is not.

-Jesus said that when a stranger tries to call the sheep, the sheep will run away because they don’t recognize the voice. It is suggesting that there is a stranger who is even trying to imitate the voice of the shepherd, but the sheep know the voice of the shepherd so well that they know the difference and will flee from the stranger seeing him as a danger.

-Jesus is saying that there will be people who will pretend to be Him and people who will pretend to speak for Him. But those who truly belong to His flock, those who are truly Jesus’ followers, will not heed the stranger but will run toward the real Jesus.

-Now, this doesn’t mean that true believers will not go through seasons of being deceived. There are some false teachers out there who are pretty slick at what they do, and they sure sound like they are speaking for Jesus. But the more you listen to the voice, the more you will notice a problem—that the voice doesn’t belong to Jesus; so, you will flee.

-How do you know if someone is a stranger (to keep with the picture given here)?

~First, their teachings and leadership are unbiblical. In some way, what it is that they teach goes against the clear teachings of Scripture. It is here in the Bible that we know and discern the voice of Christ. And the stranger, the false teacher, the false messiah, will contradict the Bible or take it out of context to fit their own agenda. If someone twists the Scripture, they are a stranger.

~Second, and related to that, is that the stranger will present a Christ that is not biblical. John in his first epistle says that this is the spirit of antichrist where a Jesus that is different from the one presented in Scripture is used as a substitute for the real thing. If the Jesus that someone offers is not the Jesus of Scripture then flee.

~Third, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that you will know them by their fruit. The fruit of their lives, their attitudes, will be an indicator of their true or false status. If a person is proud and arrogant and lofty they are not of Christ.

-But Jesus leads by calling His sheep, and His sheep will know His voice because He will never contradict what He has said before in Scripture. And so, like the Bereans of Acts 17, every voice we hear we take to Scripture to see if it is the voice of our Shepherd.

Conclusion

-There is a story about a missionary who lost his way in an African jungle. He could find no landmarks and the trail vanished. Eventually, stumbling on a small hut, he asked the native living there if he could lead him out. The native nodded. Rising to his feet, he walked directly into the thick bush. The missionary followed on his heels. For more than an hour they hacked their way through a dense wall of vines and grasses. The missionary became worried: “Are you sure this is the way? I don’t see any path.” The African chuckled and said over his shoulder, “Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path.” And he led on.

-Jesus is the path through a dark and sinful world, and He calls us to follow as He leads us.

-First, He is calling you to salvation. Since we are like sheep, we have all gone astray from the ways and standards of God. Being under God’s righteous wrath, Jesus died on the cross to take our punishment and offer us life. And so the first thing you need to do is follow Jesus’ lead to salvation. Believe what He did and submit to His leadership…

-Second, if you are a Christian there might be areas of your life where you followed your own lead instead of Christ’s, and so maybe you need to come to the altar today and submit to His leadership in your life. Or maybe there is an area of your life needing leadership, bring that to the Lord today… Or if you are having a hard time trusting Christ’s lead, come to the altar…

-Maybe you are looking for a church home, I invite you to consider Christ leading you here…