OUR GOOD SHEPHERD IS CHRIST THE KING (Outline)
November 22, 2009 --
CHRIST THE KING / LAST SUN. OF END TIME --
Jeremiah 23:2-6
INTRO: There are many names, titles, and descriptions for God in the Bible. The Bible reveals that our God is triune. Triune describes three persons but only one God. The Father is associated with creation. The Holy Spirit is connected to working faith in the hearts of humanity. The Son, Jesus Christ, brings salvation to the world. Jesus has fulfilled all of the Old Testament offices connected with God’s church. Jesus was the Prophet who proclaimed God’s gospel. Jesus fulfilled the office of Priest by offering Himself once and for all as the perfect sacrifice. Jesus still rules as King on behalf of believers. In our text Jeremiah connects Christ the King with being a Shepherd. "The LORD their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown" (ZECHARIAH 9:16). The flock needs a shepherd. The crown is from a king.
OUR GOOD SHEPHERD IS CHRIST THE KING.
I. Our Good Shepherd gathers his flock.
II. Christ the King is our righteousness.
I. OUR GOOD SHEPHERD GATHERS HIS FLOCK.
A. Jeremiah was God’s prophet, called by God, chosen by God to serve God’s people with God’s word.
1. Jeremiah was a prophet for 42 years. He warned Israel (actually Judah) of God’s judgment.
2. Verse 2. Note: “God says” and “declares the Lord”. These are God’s words and warnings.
3. These verses are not Jeremiah’s ideas or dreams. False shepherds brought false messages.
4. False prophets scattered God’s flock. Wicked kings drove away the faithfulness of the nation.
B. Verse 3. The Lord himself will take charge. The Lord himself will gather people from all nations.
C. Verse 4. There would be more faithful shepherds in the future. There would be a time of peace.
1. When Jesus was born there was peace in the land because of the Romans. Israel was fruitful.
2. The early apostles feared nothing in their witnessing about Christ. They rejoiced in suffering.
3. Of course, Jeremiah also points to the distant future of heaven itself. All will be gathered in.
D. To be associated with sheep is not very complimentary. Sheep are considered among the dumbest of farm animals. Sheep will follow whoever or whatever is in front of them. Sheep will wander off and not find their way back. No wonder Jesus talked about searching for the one sheep lost out of 100. The one who wandered off needed to be found and brought back into the fold. Like sheep we wander off. We follow our own ideas and plans rather than God’s. Our sinful nature listens to the advice and wisdom of this world rather than God’s. At times Satan deceives us. "My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them" (EZEKIEL 34:6). Too often we wander off following all the wrong things in all the wrong places.
E. Like wandering sheep we would be lost forever if left on our own. Thankfully believers are blessed to be called sheep. Yes, thankful to be called a dumb, wayward, wandering animal. Yes, we are blessed because the Lord God Almighty is our Good Shepherd. Listen to Isaiah’s beautiful description of this Good Shepherd. "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young" (ISAIAH 40:11). You have all seen that picture of Jesus holding the little lamb close to his heart. This IS OUR Good Shepherd who gathers us from our wandering ways. This is our Good Shepherd who holds us close to his heart. Later Isaiah wrote that all of us like wandering sheep have gone astray. But the Lord has laid on Christ all of our iniquities, sins.
F. Our Good Shepherd blesses us here on earth by holding us close to his heart. Our Good Shepherd is concerned about us always all of the time. Our Good Shepherd is really the best Shepherd because only Christ alone is able and freely does provide for us forever. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand" (JOHN 10:27,28). Held close to our Savior’s heart we are eternally protected.
OUR GOOD SHEPHERD IS CHRIST THE KING.
Our Good Shepherd gathers his flock.
II. CHRIST THE KING IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
A. Judah was really in a helpless situation. Israel, the northern kingdom, was already gone for a century.
1. The time for the end of the remnant of Judah was very quickly approaching.
2. The people were in the last days of the last wicked kings before being destroyed by enemies.
B. Verse 5a. Helplessness did not mean hopelessness. God always provides hope for his people.
1. Verse 5b. The righteous Branch is Christ, a descendant of David. This was God’s promise.
a. Branch = shoot from a dead stump. b. Judah = dead stump. c. Christ = living shoot.
2. Verse 5c. Christ the King would be the perfect King that every nation needed.
C. Verse 6. Jesus, Christ the King, provides perfect salvation for all nations. OUR righteousness.
D. What a miraculous connection Jeremiah presents for us today. Jesus is the humble shepherd. Jesus is also Christ the King. Jesus covers all of the ranges of humanity. Shepherds were the lowliest occupation. Kings held the greatest importance. Jesus is our Good Shepherd who has the power of the King. Kings in the Old Testament were to provide for God’s people. Kings were not just to rule. So it is with Christ the King. Christ the King, our King, provides for us. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 CORINTHIANS 5:21). The righteousness of Christ covers up our unrighteousness. His holiness hides our unholiness. Our sinless Savior forgives sins.
E. Christ the King is our King. There is a deep, personal meaning to that statement. Many kings often sit in their palaces far removed from their subjects. Not so with our King. The fact is, Christ the King left his heavenly throne to live among his disloyal subjects. Christ the King came to live and die on earth as our King. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin" (HEBREWS 4:15). This is our King who knows our weaknesses and provides us with his strength. Jesus is our righteousness.
F. Kings are often associated with great honor, power, and glory. Again, it is no different with Christ the King, our King. Christ came to live and die on earth at the hands of his own creation. But Christ did also rise again from the dead. No one else has such great power to come back to life. Christ the King does. "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 CORINTHIANS 15:25,26). Thanks be to God who gives us the victory! Christ lived and died and rose again to destroy Satan’s power. Christ lived and died and rose again to pay for the sins of the world. Christ lived and died and rose again to defeat death. Unlike any earthly king, Christ lived and died and rose again for us. Everything Christ the King did was for the benefit of his lost creation.
CONC.: One might not always connect a shepherd with a king. There are vast differences in their lives and occupations. Yet, for our Good Shepherd and for Christ the King there are many similarities. Jesus is not the first Shepherd-King. Remember? David was chosen from being a teenage shepherd to eventually become king of Israel. As you read the Psalms of David you will often recognize the heart of a shepherd more than the rule of a king. It is even more so with our Good Shepherd. Search the Scriptures, study the life of Christ, and listen to his teachings. You will soon see the Christ, a powerful King who came to serve as our Good Shepherd. "And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away"(1 PETER 5:4). Shepherd for the sheep is connected with crown, king. OUR GOOD SHEPHERD IS CHRIST THE KING. Our Good Shepherd gathers us back from our waywardness into his flock. Christ the King is our righteousness. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
LAST END TIME rdgs:
DANIEL 7:13,14;
REVELATION 1:4b-8;
JOHN 18:33-37;
(PSALM 45)
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