I'm reading this morning's John chapter 10, first 30 verses.
So if you'd like to open your Bibles and devices.
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.
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the gatekeepers open.
The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by their name and leads them out.
When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his name, they know his voice.
A stranger they will not follow, but they flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.
This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them,
Truly, 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 listen to them.
I am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.
And the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd.
I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father who knows me,
and I know the Father.
And I lay down my life for the sheep.
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.
I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice,
so there will be one flock, one shepherd.
For this reason, the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life that I may 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 I have authority to take it up again.
This charge I have received from my Father.
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.
Many of them said,
He has a demon and is insane.
Why listen to him?
Others said,
These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon.
Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?
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.
Greater than all.
And no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.
I and the Father are one.
Thank you.
Well, first, I just want to thank Dave for sharing the pulpit with me today.
It's a great privilege to be able to preach.
And it's something you don't take lightly.
But what a great text.
I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.
In 2008, June and I were looking after, at least I was preaching up at Walker.
And while she was getting settled into the mance, I went over to the church building.
And I sat down behind the pulpit.
And here, in large letters, was facing me these words.
Sir, we would see Jesus.
Let's pray.
Father, we come together today with much expectation.
We come to worship you in spirit and in truth.
Because they are the ones that you desire to worship you.
But, Father, we come today and we want to see you.
We want to hear you speaking to us.
And we want to know that you love us with that everlasting love.
And so we ask that you guide and direct us today in Christ's name.
Well, what must we see in Jesus and hear about Jesus this morning?
Just three points with a few subheadings.
Firstly, we want to look at his deity.
I am, he says.
Not I was or I will be, but I am.
I always was and I always will be.
The Jews glorified, gloried in Abraham as their father
and as being part of and upholders of his covenant.
But Jesus told them, before Abraham was, I am.
He also said, in verse 24, the last part of this verse,
if you do not believe that I am, he, you will die in your sins.
He told them in chapter 8 and verse 58.
It's hard for anyone really, I think, to grasp the enormity of Jesus' divinity.
I don't know whether you've tried to think about it, to think.
We often sing the children's song, my God is so big, so strong and so mighty.
But do we really believe it?
He is very God of very God.
He's the creator of the heavens and the earth and the seas and all the things that are therein.
He's the one who upholds all things by the word of his power.
The one before whom we shall all one day kneel and confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
But I believe that is exactly what Isaiah saw in the year King Uzziah died.
In Isaiah 6, Isaiah said, in the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord lifted up.
He was seated on his right and his train filled the whole of the temple.
And here were the cherubim and seraphim around him calling out,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.
And Isaiah fell down before the Lord.
And he says, why am I?
He said, I'm a man of unclean lips and I live amongst a people of unclean lips.
But Isaiah saw the risen, glorified King of kings seated on the throne.
In John chapter 12, you'll find that that's what Jesus says he saw.
Others heard his voice.
Some spoke with him face to face.
One man wrestled with him.
One had seen the back parts of him, felt his presence.
But no one saw him in his glory seated on his throne.
Nor seen and heard the declaration of heavenly hosts as Isaiah saw and heard.
Jesus is declaring here in our text that he is the I am that told Moses of the burning bush to take the sandals off his feet.
For the ground on which he was standing was holy ground.
He told Moses to tell the people of Israel, I am sent you.
I am whom I am.
Jesus is divine.
He is that second person of the Godhead.
But we also want to see him not only as divine, but we want to see his humanity.
Because in our text it says, I am the good shepherd.
We want to see him as the good shepherd.
Not only is Jesus the door to the sheepfold, as we see in the beginning of this chapter 10 of John.
As the only way to get to heaven is through him.
To be part of his heavenly family, you must come through Jesus.
But there in verse 7, as Jesus said, most assuredly I said to you, I am the door of the sheep.
There he's pictured as an object.
A way.
A guardian.
But here in our text he is the shepherd.
Indeed he's different from all the other shepherds of his flock.
There are wicked shepherds as we see in our text.
There are false shepherds who try to get into heaven some other way.
And the faithful shepherds, like our own pastors here.
But he is above all.
He is the good shepherd.
What he can do and does that no other shepherd can do.
What is it?
I think David described it best in Ellen Stoll, my thunder here.
The Lord is my shepherd.
That's a big statement.
The Lord, the divine one, the control of all things, he is my shepherd.
And he says, I shall not want.
Shall not want anything.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil.
For you are with me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
He says, my cup overflows.
And he says, one day, he said, I know, I shall be in the house of the Lord forever.
I wonder if that's your understanding, your statement, your assurance this morning.
You know the Lord is your shepherd and you know you're going to be in heaven.
If you've lived very long.
Only Arthur's lived longer than me, I think, here today.
But there's some rough patches in our life.
It's not all a bed of roses.
Not all a bowl of cherries.
There is this valley.
We sometimes think we'll never get through this valley of the shadow of death.
These tough times.
But one thing we know, or two things we know.
We know the Lord.
And we know we're going to be with him forever.
He is good.
There are none of the fallen race of humanity since Adam sinned in the garden of Eden who are good.
I mean good in the perfect sense.
Because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
And only the sinless son of God, Jesus Christ himself, is good.
But how good?
How good is this good shepherd really?
And I think that we see this in that third part of our study today.
We see it in his love.
He says, I am the good shepherd.
Good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.
Good shepherd.
And the first thing we want to know about this is that Christ's love is sufficient.
When the Virgin Mary was expecting the Christ child by the Holy Spirit,
Joseph, her husband, was told to call his name Jesus,
for he will save everybody in the world from their sins.
Every man, woman and child that ever entered into this world from their sins?
No.
He said he will save his people from their sins.
And here he is in John 10, at the height of his earthly ministry,
telling his fellow countrymen that he would have to die to save them.
He gives his life for his sheep.
No one took his life from him.
He gave it freely.
How generous is that?
But it was planned from all eternity.
It was prophesied in Isaiah 53 clearly and applies precisely.
Look at the verses 14 through 18.
I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and am known by my own.
As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father.
And I lay down my life for the sheep.
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring.
And they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Therefore my Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again.
This commandment I have received from my Father.
It wasn't Judas Iscariot or Pilate, the Jewish rulers and the mob, nor the soldiers who took Jesus' life.
He laid it down himself.
He could have called on 12 legions of angels to deliver him, as we see in Matthew 26, 53, but he didn't.
Greater love has no man than this.
And that he lay down his life for his friends.
His born-again friends.
His life.
The Lord Jesus Christ gave his life.
The sinless son of God.
Lay down his life.
What a cost.
The hymn writer, Cecil Francis Alexander, an Irish woman wrote,
There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin.
He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.
Jesus is telling his hearers who he is and what he is going to do.
But we're in such a marvelous position this morning, aren't we?
Because we're on the other side of the cross.
We know that what he said he was coming to do, he actually did.
He did die on the cross to save his people from their sins.
He did rise again.
He did ascend into heaven.
And he sits as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Redemption has been accomplished and applied to those already saved.
And to those who will be saved before the Lord Jesus comes again.
But the sheep.
Who are they?
Well, what distinguishes them from the goats?
Because on the judgment day, the Lord says when he comes,
he'll sort out the sheep from the goats.
The wheat from the tares.
The believers from the unbelievers.
But some clearly were not his sheep.
Look at verse 26.
Or 25.
Well, let's go back to 24.
The Jews surrounded him and said to him,
How long do you keep us in doubt?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.
Jesus answered him and said,
I told you.
And you do not believe.
The works that I do in my Father's name,
they bear witness of me.
But you do not believe.
Why don't they believe?
Because you are not of my sheep.
It is very clear that some people are going to be in heaven
and some are not.
Can we thank the Lord and say,
Well, we know who they are that are not
and we can just not worry about them
and we'll just speak to the ones that are going to be.
But we're not God.
We are to preach the gospel to every creature.
But the Lord himself is the one.
He is the judge of all.
And he tells these Jews who are opposing constantly,
You're not my sheep because you do not believe.
The Lord knows, as David told the kids,
he knows them by name.
They know him,
not just about him.
Anyone can read the scriptures
and have an intellectual understanding
of who this Jesus is.
But they know him
because they have a personal relationship
with this one true and living God.
This saviour that laid down his life for them
and who loved them.
They have a personal love for him.
And they have a dependence upon him
and a hopefulness of life with him forever.
Having loved his own,
he loved them to the end.
And heaven awaits them
after this earthly life.
And my friends,
is that what you're talking about?
Is it like after I looked on my wife that morning,
21st of January 2011,
and sure she was dead,
but I knew she was absent from the body
and present with the Lord.
Is that how it's going to be for you?
Is that your hope?
Nicodemus,
the head man we heard
in chapter 3 of John's Gospel.
He was the one that led the Jewish nation.
He was the Pharisee of the Pharisees,
if you like,
the leader.
But he knew he wasn't right with God.
And he comes to Jesus by night
and he says to him,
no one can do the works that you do
except if you come from God.
Jesus didn't even answer him.
He said,
Nicodemus,
you must be born again.
The woman at the well.
She said,
I perceive that you're a prophet.
And then Jesus reveals himself to her.
And what about the blind man last week?
David was talking about,
here he was.
And they keep pestering these leaders of the Jews
and they want to know,
tell us plainly what happened.
He said,
he said,
one thing I know,
once I was blind,
but now I see.
These people entered into this personal relationship.
They hear his voice
and Jesus gets their attention.
Verse 16,
I just put praise the Lord after this.
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold,
them also I must bring.
Isn't God good?
I don't think anyone here is a Jew, maybe.
We used to have one who was part Jew,
once a time.
But where are those others?
And Jesus said he must bring them
from every nation, tongue and tribe.
He'll get your attention.
Has he got my attention?
No matter what we are doing or where we're going,
whether our sport is our great God,
whether gaming is the thing that takes us all our time,
whether scrolling, we can't resist it,
or whether we're just depressed and we can't cope,
when the Lord says,
listen,
when he calls your name,
he gets your attention.
And his sheep believe what they hear.
That's what he says here in verse 27.
But my sheep hear my voice.
My sheep hear my voice and I know them
and they follow me.
Matthew 5, 24 says,
he who hears my word
and believes on him who sent me
has everlasting life
and will not come into condemnation
but is passed from death unto life.
Have you had that experience?
Do you know that you've heard Christ calling you by name
and you've believed on him
and he's given you that assurance
that you have eternal life now?
How do we hear?
Well, it's by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus has ascended
but he sent the Holy Spirit too
in John chapter 14 through 16.
You'll see that
Jesus says,
it's right for me to go
so that the Holy Spirit can come.
And he's omnipresent.
And he guides us into all truth.
But what do they hear?
What do you and I hear
when he calls us by name?
Well, we hear that we have sinned
against this holy God.
And that's the big difference.
We've all done things wrong.
Don't kid yourself.
I can point to say,
yes, I know you've done something wrong
but there's always three pointing back at me.
But it's when we see
that we've sinned against a holy God,
this I am,
we see this.
and we see that we deserve to be condemned.
And we see the need to repent of our sins.
And we need to believe that Jesus has come
to give his life
as a substitute on the cross of Calvary
and that he rose again the third day
and ascended into heaven
to be with his father
and to intercede for his people.
Is that you this morning?
Dave mentioned this lady,
Rosaria, I think it was,
the converted lesbian,
professor of English.
She said,
in April of 1999,
I felt the call of Jesus Christ upon my life.
It was both subtle and blatant,
like the peace inside the eye of a hurricane.
I could in no way resist
and in no way understood
what would become of my life.
How does this affect
such repentant sinners
as you and I this morning
who have believed?
In verse 27 again,
my sheep hear my voice
and I know them
and they follow me.
We follow Jesus.
And how do we do that?
Well, we need to be reading his word
constantly, daily.
We need to be meditating on it
day and night.
We need to be those
who are able to speak
about the word of God,
to be able to share the word of God,
to be able to be with other believers
and to be encouraged
and chastened
from the word of God.
We follow Jesus.
But
the thing that I've noticed
is that Christ's love
is not only sufficient,
but it's very divisive.
Divisive.
His love
is divisive.
And this is
obvious, I think,
from the reaction of the Jews
as Chris read to us this morning.
Look at verse 19.
Therefore,
there was a division
again
amongst the Jews
because of these saints.
And Melinda said,
he has a demon
and is mad.
Why do you listen to him?
Others said,
these are not the words
of one who is a demon.
Can a demon
open the eyes
of the blind?
There was a division.
If you're one of
Christ's chosen people,
you will have already
had a similar reaction
from your friends
and from your families.
Are you a Christian?
Are you one of Christ's sheep?
If you are,
then you know
the reality
and the cost
of what I'm saying.
June and I
won't convert
until our late 20s.
But when we come
to understand
and have this relationship
with Christ,
we want to speak
about Christ,
our friends
seem to drift away
from us.
They didn't want
to hear about Christ.
When I left
the Masonic Lodge,
after being 15 years
a master
in the Masonic Lodge,
and I put in
my resignation,
I was cut off
from all these people.
But on a church scale,
and this is what
we're looking at here,
we're looking at Jesus
amongst these Jews,
these leaders
who want to get rid of him,
there's a great division.
Thanks.
And you can see here,
this is from a young child,
this is what was
confronted me
every Sunday.
Why is this draped
over the pulpit?
What do you notice
in the middle of it?
What do you notice
nobody knows anything?
I'm going to take
my glasses off,
I can see it.
It's the burning bush,
isn't it?
That draped over
the pulpit
of the Presbyterian church
that I was in
all my life.
It's still up
at Charlestown,
the same,
I think it's still
in St Andrews.
But in St Andrews,
they had the most
popular minister
when I was a child
for many years.
He married June and I
and it was just amazing
how many people
just flocked there.
But he,
like me and my father
and a couple of my brothers,
we were Freemasons.
It was a
liberal Presbyterian church.
The gospel was not preached
as we hear here
every week.
And after this man
died,
there came along
eventually
an evangelical Christian,
a Dutchman,
part of our
Reformed Minister's
Fellowship.
And he started
to preach
the gospel
that people
were sinners
and they needed
to repent
and believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ
to be saved.
There was such
a division
in the church
that one
quite wealthy man
offered
quite a sum of money
to get rid of him.
I don't mean
to bump him off.
I mean
just to get him
out of the place.
We don't want
to hear him.
However,
Christ's love
is sufficient
but it is divisive.
but I think
the wonderful
thing about it
it's
decisive.
Verse 27
through 29
or through
verse 30
if you like.
My sheep
hear my voice
and I know them
and they follow me.
I give them
eternal life
and they shall
never perish.
neither shall
anyone 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 my
father's hand.
I and my
father
are one.
I just think
that's a
marvellous passage
don't you?
If you're one
of his sheep
you can say
praise the Lord
I'm safe
forever.
none can
snatch me
out of the
great
I am's
hand
and if you
like none
can snatch
us out of
the father's
hand
who's greater
than all
he talks
about
but he's
saying from
the whole
trinity
no one
can separate
you from
the love
of God
that's in
Christ Jesus.
You're safe
for all
eternity.
but I've
heard
and I
think some
misguided
Christians
who think
that they
can pluck
themselves
out of
his hand.
I'm just
amazed.
They can
talk about
the sovereignty
of God
they can
talk about
him being
the I
am
they can
talk about
him upholding
all things
by the
word of
his power
and yet
they think
they can
take him
with their
own free
will
out of
his hand.
My friend
that's
impossible.
That's
saying that
you are
above and
stronger than
the almighty
himself.
But what's
the object
of Christ
coming into
the world
to save
his people?
Did you
notice as
Chris read
you have
a look at
verse 10
the thief
does not
come except
to steal
and to
kill and
to destroy.
I have
come
says the
Lord
Jesus
that they
may have
life and
that they
may have
it more
abundantly.
Abundant
life.
Is that
what you've
had after?
That's what
I've had
despite all
the ups and
downs.
Abundant
life.
Fancy me
being here
this morning.
Abundant
life.
I wonder
if that's
your experience
or are
you just
struggling
along
hoping
that you'll
get to
heaven.
The Lord
has come
to give
us life.
I don't
want to
make light
of the
fact that
we all
have
struggles
and we
all have
our mental
struggles
and physical
struggles
and financial
struggles
or whatever
it might
be.
But in
Christ is
abundant
life.
It's life
to the
fullest.
and with
all these
problems and
all these
difficulties
we face
we have
to look
away from
them and
look to
him.
To see
him for
who he
is and
what he's
done and
what he
will do.
And no
one can
separate you
from the
love of
God in
Christ
Jesus.
Why would
he leave
his throne
of glory?
Why would
he humble
himself and
take on the
form of a
man and
endure such
suffering at
the hand of
sinful man
kind?
Hebrews 12
verse 3
tells us
for the
joy set
before him
he endured
the cross
and sat
down on the
right hand of
the majesty
on high.
So therefore
brethren seeing
we're compassed
about by so
great a cloud
of witnesses
let us lay
aside the
sin that so
easily besets
us and run
with endurance
the right
set before us
looking unto
Jesus the
author and
finisher of
our faith.
Let's pray.
Father we
thank you
that you
are the
good shepherd
the good
shepherd that
laid down
your life
for people
like us
and Father
if it
please you
that you
might speak
to people
today you
call them
by name
and you
call them
to yourself
that might
have this
great experience
of being in
a relationship
with you
the one who
loved us
and gave his
life for us
amen