"THE CROSS, THE CROOK & THE CROWN"
Pt. 2 - The Shepard's Crook
Psalms 23:1
Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Introduction: Psalms 22-24 are Messianic in their content and are an appropriate study in light of how close we are to our celebration of the Lord's Passion. Each of these three Psalms has a different focus which we shall explore over the next three weeks. The first is entitled "The Savior's Cross; the second, "The Shepherd's Crook", and the third, The Sovereign's Crown!" What comes to your mind when you think of a shepherd? A hillside with a green pasture, with sheep lazily grazing while a faithful shepherd stands guard over them? That's probably where most of us are this morning. When David composed this psalm he was certainly drawing upon his own experience from the many times he had kept his father Jesse's sheep. The first time we are introduced to him this is his occupation as the prophet Samuel calls for him to be anointed king of Israel while he is still a shepherd boy. For 3,000 years this metaphor of a shepherd and sheep has been a part of the collective consciousness of the Christian church. Untold thousands have drawn comfort from it and it is most likely the first Scripture that most of you can remember from your child hood. But for David this was more than just a reminder of his former occupation, it was much more personal than that; he states that the "...Lord is my shepherd..." It was intensely personal for David as it may be for some of you also. What can we learn about this theme today? First, it needs to be noted that Psalm 23 is not the only time that the Lord is referred to as a shepherd. It is a very powerful theme in the NT as well. Three stand out: Turn with me to
I. THE GOOD SHEPHARD
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
a. The beauty of His character
In the original an article is used before each subject so a literal reading would be "I am the shepherd, the good one." The implications are that there are other shepherds who are not good. He mentions earlier that there are "strangers, thieves and robbers" who come but the sheep will not hear or follow them.
b. The blessings of His conduct
Jesus declares that the good shepherd "lays (giveth) down His life for the sheep" He does this because He cares for the sheep.
John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
He goes on to say that He does this voluntarily of His own volition. No man takes His life from Him and once He lays it down, He has the power to "take" it up again! (An obvious reference to the resurrection)
John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Five times Jesus makes it plain that He is voluntarily giving His life "for" (as a substitute) for the sheep. Jesus gives His life so that the sheep can be saved (verse 9) and so He can "bring" all the sheep into the fold, even the "other sheep" of verse 16!
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
ILL - WANDERING OFF
Dr. Andrew Bonar told me how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn't get out of. The grass on these mountains is very sweet and the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then they can't jump back again, and the shepherd hears them bleating in distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death. "Why don't they go down there when the sheep first gets there?" I asked. "Ah!" He said, "they are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if they did!" And that is the way with men; they won't go back to God till they have no friends and have lost everything. If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring you back the moment you have given up trying to save yourself and are willing to let Him save you His own way.
SOURCE: Moody's Anecdotes, pp. 70-71. In "Blessed Promises From the Good Shepherd" by Paul Fritz on www.sermoncentral.com
Note: We are saved by the death of the good shepherd.
II. THE GREAT SHEPHARD
Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Notice the connection that the writer of Hebrews makes between the "good shepherd" of John's gospel and the "great shepherd" here in Hebrews 13. The same sentence construction is used here. It should read "the shepherd of the sheep, the great one!" God has "...brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep..."
a. Our peace through the blood
We have peace with God and the peace of God through the "...blood of the everlasting covenant..."
"The "covenant" spoken of is not the covenant of works made with Adam, as the federal head of his natural seed; there was no mediator or shepherd of the sheep that had any concern therein; there was no blood in that covenant; nor was it an everlasting one: nor the covenant of circumcision given to Abraham; though possibly there may be some reference to it; or this may be opposed to that, since the blood of circumcision is often called by the Jews ãí áøéú, "the blood of the covenant" (d): nor the covenant on Mount Sinai, though there may be an allusion to it; since the blood which was then shed, and sprinkled on the people, is called the blood of the covenant, Exo_24:8 but that was not an everlasting covenant, that has waxed old, and vanished away; but the covenant of grace is meant, before called the new and better covenant, of which Christ is the surety and Mediator; see Hebrews 7:22. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. This is an "everlasting one"; it commenced from everlasting, as appears from the everlasting love of God, which is the rise and foundation of it; from the counsels of God of old, which issued in it; from Christ's being set up from everlasting, as the Mediator of it; from the promises of it which were made before the world began; and from the spiritual blessings of grace in it, which were given to God's elect in Christ before the foundation of it: moreover, it will endure forever; nor will it be succeeded by any other covenant: and the blood of Christ may be called the blood of it, because the shedding of it is a principal article in it; by it the covenant is ratified and confirmed; and all the blessings of it come through it, as redemption, peace, pardon, justification, and even admission into heaven itself; and Christ, through it, was brought again from the dead, because by it he fulfilled his covenant engagements, satisfied divine justice, and abolished sin, yea, death itself." John Gill's Exposition of the Entire bible
b. Our perfection through the Blesser
One of the most blessed truths about Christianity is that "God does not leave us where He finds us!" He finds all of us in the "pit with no water" but He does not leave us there. He radically and dramatically changes our lives. Read Romans 12:2
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The word transformed is the Greek word metamorphoō, from which we get our English word
metamorphosis which is the process that changes a caterpillar into a butterfly. Thanks to what Jesus did for us on the Cross through His blood we can have a life changing, life altering experience. We will never be perfect entirely in this life but as we "walk with the Lord in the light of His Word..." our lives will be transformed.
ILL - The story is told of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Savior and applied for membership in a local church. "Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your Life?" inquired an old deacon. "Yes, sir," she replied. "Well, are you still a sinner?" "To tell you the truth, I feel I'm a greater sinner than ever." "Then what real change have you experienced?" "I don't quite know how to explain it," she said, "except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved. I'm a sinner running from sin!" she was received into the fellowship of the church, and she proved by her consistent life that she was truly converted.
Our Daily Bread.
ILL - I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, "By the grace of God I am what I am. John Newton.
Note: We are sanctified by the death and resurrection of the great shepherd!
III. THE CHIEF SHEPHARD
1 Peter 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
a. The appearance of the Shepherd
Biblical prophecy provides some of the greatest encouragement and hope available to us today. Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ's first advent, so both testaments are filled with references to the second coming of Christ. One scholar has estimated that there are 1,845 references to Christ's second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ--an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ's first advent, there are 8 which look forward to His second!
Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 27.
John W. Peterson wrote a song entitled "Coming Again" and it speaks of the return of Christ:
Marvelous message we bring;
Glorious carol we sing,
Wonderful word of the King:
Jesus is coming again!
Forest and flower exclaim,
Mountain and meadow the same,
All earth and heaven proclaim:
Jesus is coming again!
Standing before Him at last,
Trial and trouble all past,
Crowns at His feet we will cast.
Jesus is coming again!
Chorus
Coming again, coming again!
May be morning, may be noon,
May be evening and May be soon!
Coming again, coming again!
O what a wonderful day it will be-
Jesus is coming again!
b. The award for the sheep
Jesus, who is the good shepherd, the great shepherd and the chief shepherd received a crown of thorns in this life but Hebrews 2:9 declares "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." The Shepherd is crowned with glory and His sheep will be too!
Earth for work, heaven for wages
This life for the battle, another for the crown
Time for employment, eternity for enjoyment!
Thomas Guthrie.
Conclusion: I want to close by observing that all the blessings promised to the sheep are contingent upon the sheep "hearing and knowing" the voice of the Shepherd. My question for you this morning is simple. Do you know the Shepherd's voice? In just a moment I'm going to ask our musicians and worship leader to come and we will sing an invitation hymn and you will have the opportunity to make a public response to the claims of Christ on your life. You must respond publically because according to what Jesus taught if you are ashamed to confess Him (publically) before men then He would be ashamed to confess you before His Father. You may need to come for some other type of decision but whatever God is dealing with you about you need to respond.
