It Can Get Personal
Message three of five
I Am the Good Shepherd
March 18, 2012
Michael Wiley
John 10:11
Introduction:
Do you like going to the county or state fair? I grew up in Louisville KY. Each year KY holds their State Fair in Louisville. I remember going each year primarily to see the animals. I really enjoyed walking through the barns, looking at all the cattle sheep and pigs. My dad and I showed pigeons at the fair. Even though I’ve never lived on a livestock farm, I’ve always wanted to. We don’t make it to our county fair every year, but when we do, I want to make a beeline to the barns. My family humors me and goes with me, but they want to walk through quickly and get out of there. I could stay all day.
Most of us here didn’t grow up in a farming atmosphere so we don’t understand that lifestyle.
We do need to know however, that most of the Bible was written to and by people who lived it and understood it.
In the tenth chapter of John, Jesus identifies Himself as the “Good Shepherd!”
When he said that, the people got it! Not because they went to the fair each year, but because they lived in the farming culture.
Some of the mid-East culture is still like this today. A family owns a flock of sheep. One of the family members shepherds the sheep or they hire someone to shepherd them.
The Shepherd leads the sheep from pasture to pasture, moving them about to find food and water. Sheep were one of the earliest animals to be domesticated, largely because they are easy to herd and maintain. Sheep are one of the few animals that can memorize and recognize the face of their shepherd and will remember it for years. Sheep have a “follow the leader” instinct and will follow their shepherd everywhere.
Now to our text: READ John 10:1-15
Transition:
So in this text, we are the sheep and Jesus is the shepherd.
Look at your neighbor and say Baaaaa! :)
Now, if we are the sheep and Jesus is the Shepherd, I want to spend the remaining of our time discussing
How to Follow your Shepherd:
First, You must Trust Him!
Sheep trust their shepherd! Where do you put your trust?
Do you put your trust – your hope in the government?
We are in an election year.
On March 20, 2012, Illinois citizens will choose candidates seeking state and federal offices, including: U.S. President, U.S. House of Representatives, and Illinois state lawmakers (House & Senate)
Are you going to vote?
I believe it is the right of every American to vote.
I believe it is the duty of every Christian to vote.
Go to Illinoisfamily.org for a non-partisan voter guide to see what the candidates believe on the major issues.
Government is important because it affects our everyday lives. But as important as voting is.
Don’t put your hope in government! (Psalm 146: 3-5 NLT)
3Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
4When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.
5But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the LORD their God.
The survival of the sheep is based on their trust in Him. The sheep must trust their shepherd!
(Psalm 56:8-9 NLT)
8 You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
9 My enemies will retreat when I call to you for help.
This I know: God is on my side!
John 10:3-4 says, The Shepherd (Jesus), leads us out and He goes before us!
The whole idea of this relationship is that Jesus leads us! He goes before us. As the Lord God promised to go before the Israelites while leading them to the Promised Land, Jesus our Shepherd goes before us to lead us where we need to go.
BUT, you must trust your shepherd!
Trust Him to lead you, in every decision, and down every path!
In order to follow your Shepherd, You listen for His voice (verse 3)
John 10:3
English Standard Version (ESV)
3 …The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name…
We all know it. Most of us are lousy listeners! Yes, even women are lousy listeners. Sometime in your life, possibly in school, you played the pass-it-on game. You put people in a circle. The leader whispers something to the first person and tells them to pass it on…They whisper to the next person and so on…
When you ask the last person what was said, it is never 100% correct. And sometimes it’s not the least bit correct.
ILL. Jill Geisler posted an article in 2004 where she gave descriptions of Ten Lousy Listeners.
Do you identify with one of these?
1. The Multi-Tasker – Sure I’m listening. While I type. While I scan my computer screen. While I take just this one call. While I open this letter and page through these message slips. Now what were you saying?
2. The Party Animal – Do I have a minute? Sure. Come on in and tell me what’s on your mind. I know you’ve been trying to get in to see me. Go ahead, shoot. Hey, someone else is at the door. Come on in. We’re just chatting. Always room for one more!
3. The Sentence Finisher — Stop right there, I know exactly where you are going. No need for you to finish that thought, I will. Am I smart, or what? Don’t you appreciate a [friend] who is this efficient and supportive? Go ahead, tell me – I’ll finish that sentence for you, too.
4. The Debater – Whatever you’re saying, I’ll challenge. I’m only playing devil’s advocate, of course. I might be doing this to help you. But then again, I might not. How do you know? I do this to everyone, all the time. Keeps people on their toes.
5. The Ann Landers – Say no more. Here’s my advice. Take it. You may not have asked for my advice. You might just have wanted me to listen to you and let you vent. You might have wanted to figure things out yourself. But how can I prove I’m a leader if I don’t jump in with a ready answer? You’re welcome.
6. The Great Philosopher – Now, let me tell you what you really mean, but on a much broader, deeper, and meaningful level because it comes from me. I knew all this, by the way, without ever having asked you any follow-up questions about your thoughts or feelings. Why would that be important?
7. The Autobiographer — Ah, the story you just started brings something very important to mind: me. I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I will now tell you all about my experience, since it will be so valuable to you.
8. The Clock Watcher – I’m very good at face-to-face meetings. I look at your face, then the face of my watch, your face, watch face … I also fidget extremely effectively.
9. The Speeder – You want to talk? I’m really busy so can we make it fast? I’m on my way to a meeting. Walk along with me. Can you just send me an e-mail?
10. The Dropper – Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. I will keep them in mind. Unfortunately, I will forget to follow up with you promptly, or perhaps ever, leaving you wondering if you have dropped off my radar.
Now, if you didn’t identify with any of these, you should ask your spouse or your best friend. They will tell you.
Many of the same things that make us a lousy listener with others, make us a lousy listener with our Shepherd.
Some Christians say, “God doesn’t speak to me.” Are you sure? Could it be that you’re not listening?
If you need help listening, I want to give you a three suggestions to help you (I’m giving you a little bit of CLASS 201 here…
1. Prayer
Mark 1:35 and several other verses tell us "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." If Jesus knew His personal need for constant communication with God and He was the son of God, how much more do you and I need that constant, everyday time where we're together with the Lord, telling Him how much we love Him.
2. Bible Reading
It's not just a good idea. It's a necessity. Two verses talk about how it's a necessity for us spiritually. Matthew 4:4 "Man cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks." Physical food is not enough for you to be healthy. You've got to have spiritual intake of the Word of God. Job 23:12 says (Job speaking) "I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." What happens if you go a long time physically without food? You get sick. You'll die eventually. It's a necessity. Same with spiritual food. Intake of the Word of God will keep you healthy and strong.
As a church we are reading through the Scripture this year.
We have reading plans on the Resource Table and you can get it right off our website. You can also type your email address in our website, and they send the Scripture to you via email every day…
"How can a young man cleanse his ways?" Psalm 119:9 says, "By keeping to your Word." So our time with God in a in Scripture reading is of utmost importance.
3. Get Quiet with the Lord
Psalms 25:4 "Show me the path where I should go, O Lord; point out the right road for me to walk. Lead me." When you come to the Lord in a quiet time, after you've told Him that you love Him, start asking God "What is there in my life? What direction do I need to be headed? What goals do I need to be reaching toward?" Reflect upon your life.
Two things to do in a quiet time:
1) Consider your way. Proverbs 4:26 says "Ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established." Take time to be quiet and assess your life. "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:6 says. Look at your life.
2) Commit your day to Him. "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it and he will." So after you've told the Lord you love Him and you've spent a little time looking over the goals you have for that day commit your schedule to Him. "Lord, I have this plan. This is what I think I'm supposed to be doing today. But really only You know where I'm supposed to be at 9 this morning or 2:30. These are the people I have on my list I'm supposed to be with and talk to today. But you know the people that You've intended for me to be with." When you commit your schedule to the Lord like that, it helps you be more flexible and not get all bent out of shape when things don't go the way you think they should.
The main thing you do in a quiet time is “Get quiet in a Quiet Place.” AND ----- LISTEN!
In order to Follow your Shepherd You follow His Voice (verse 4)
John 10:4
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 …he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Let me ask you this: How do the Sheep Know His Voice? We go backwards to answer this. You know His voice through Prayer, Bible reading and a Quiet Time. The more you practice those disciplines the more you recognize his voice.
Sheep will not follow a voice they do not recognize. They recognize the Shepherd’s voice because they have spent time with him. They trust Him. They know that he has never let them down. He has never hurt them, or threatened them. Has led them
IL. I posted this on the BRIDGE’s Facebook this week.
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd = That's Relationship!
I shall not want = That's Supply!
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures = That's Rest!
He leadeth me beside the still waters = That's Refreshment!
He restoreth my soul = That's Healing!
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = That's Guidance!
For His name sake = That's Purpose!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of t he shadow of death = That's Testing!
I will fear no evil = That's Protection!
For Thou art with me = That's Faithfulness!
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me = That's Discipline!
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies = That's Hope!
Thou annointes my head with oil = That's Consecration!
My cup runneth over = That's Abundance!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life = That's Blessing !
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord = That's Security!
Forever = That's Eternity!
(Author Unknown)
Notice Psalm 23 starts off with a relationship – “The LORD is MY Shepherd!”
I know when people I have a relationship with call me, they don’t need to identify themselves. I’ve got caller I.D. --- no, really, I recognize their voice. The moment they say “hello” I know who they are.
Now you might be saying, “That’s me too, but God’s voice is a bit harder to hear.”
Actually what you might be saying here, is not that it is hard to hear, but it’s hard to Recognize.
I believe that the Shepherd speaks to every Christian who desires to listen. BUT, often times we’ll hear something and wonder; Is this from the Lord or from my own imagination?
Have you ever been there? I mean, you didn’t have a flash of light, or an angelic visitation, so how do you determine whether or not God is speaking to you?
Let me give you a few pointers.
1. If you have a prompting or a thought you believe might be from God, Write it down.
Write in the form of a prayer and take it to Him every day in your quiet time. Ask Him over and over if this is from Him. If you don’t get a clear negative answer after a few days – act on it! I believe the Lord is happier help us out of wrong decisions we thought were from Him than He is watching us ignore what He told us.
2. Seek Counsel
Find someone whom you believe to be strong spiritually and ask them what they think about you revelation.
3. Don’t reason with it
The Bible tells us that God’s ways are not our ways, and God’s thoughts are not ours. Sometimes a word from the Shepherd will not make sense to us at the time.
This brings me to our final thought from the passage
In order to Follow your Shepherd You ignore false Shepherds (verse 5)
John 10:5
English Standard Version (ESV)
5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Remember that I said a Sheep will recognize the Shepherd and remember his face for years?
There are false Shepherds in our world --- they are in churches, in the seats and on the stage, they are on television and on the radio.
Here’s the key way to recognize a false shepherd:
The Shepherd’s Voice always agrees with Scripture.
God would never lead us to violate His written word.
IL Years ago Tammy and I began witnessing to a neighbor of ours two doors down. Her and her husband had just moved there, and had only been married a year. She accepted Christ and began attending our church. About six months later, she stopped coming to church. I let a few weeks go by, then I caught her out in her yard and asked her where she had been. She said, she met a guy at work and God told her to leave her husband and move in with him. When she told her husband this new word from the Lord, He left, so the boyfriend moved in with her, and they hadn’t got around to coming to church yet. She finished the story by saying, “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
I asked her if she knew what the Bible said about marriage and divorce. She said “No.” I said, knowing what the Bible says, I’m really sure your word wasn’t from God. She said, “but I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
Her new boyfriend left her 3 months later, she moved away an unhappy single woman.
Conclusion:
Donald Miller, in his excellent book Searching for God Knows What, tells about going to a Bible college where he taught one of the classes. Speaking to this group of Bible students, he told them he was going to present the plan of salvation, but he was going to leave out one key element, and they were to listen carefully so that at the end they could tell him what it was. He began by saying that mankind is sinful and separated from God, and he pointed out many of the sins of the culture — euthanasia, abortion, homosexuality, drug use, etc. He talked about the need to repent and backed it up with several scriptures. He used a real life example of a bridge being out, and how a man shot flares just over the top of cars to get them to stop and not drive over the bridge to their death. He again quoted Scripture that talked about the wages of sin being death, and how we were to avoid spiritual death at any cost. He talked about the beauty of morality, and told the story of a man who avoided being unfaithful to his wife when faced with the opportunity, and how his marriage blossomed after that and became better than ever. He talked about heaven and how wonderful it would be — streets of gold and gates of pearl with a beautiful river running through it. He said all this could be theirs if they only believed, repented and honored God. Not only would heaven be theirs, but real meaning and fulfillment would be realized in their lives right here and now.
He then asked the students what was left out of the story. There was absolute silence in the room. Now these were students who had grown up in evangelical churches. They attended a Bible college where they had studied theology. They had read the Bible and taken classes in both Old and New Testament. And only weeks before had taken an evangelism class and knocked on hundreds of doors in an attempt to lead people to Christ. Miller said that the students sat there for several uncomfortable minutes. Finally he wrote, “None of the forty-five students in the class realized I had presented a gospel without once mentioning the name of Jesus.”
If there is anything the story of the Shepherd and the sheep tells us, it is that the Christian life is not about going through a few steps so we can avoid hell and get to heaven; it is about a relationship that takes place between the Shepherd and his sheep. It is not about getting into the fold, for that is never mentioned, it is about following the Shepherd.
Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
