Shepherd at the gate
John 10:1-21
Good morning everyone, certainly glad that you are with us this morning. May God touch you with His Word.
Prayer- Father let us come this morning with no perceived idea of what you want to say to us. Lord we just that you want to speak to us. May our hearts be open and ears tuned in to your voice so that we may experience the good shepherd first hand. In Jesus name! Amen.
Turn to John Chapter 10. Let’s start by reading the first 10 verses.
It is the parable of the Good Shepherd spoken by Jesus himself.
Shepherds get a bad rap because of their standing in the community.
They were the not so nice.
They were the rough necks.
The Gypsies that come to town where everybody watches their belongings
The uneducated, the smelly ones that you would not want in your fancy restaurant or guest in your home.
I personally believe that God uses shepherds throughout scripture to show that no matter where you are on the social ladder, that God can use you and me.
He used the smelly, dirty Shepherds to announce the birth of Christ the Messiah.
Shepherd David went from dirty Shepherd to King of Israel.
To grab this in the right context, you have to see who He is talking and what He meant by the content.
Jesus himself is speaking (Red letter) about sheep- want to know why he compares us to sheep?
They are not the smartest animal and sometimes we are not either.
Sheep get lost easily; they wander from where they belong.
They cannot fight off enemies and need a shepherd
They become beside themselves when they are in need of food or shelter. Ever see a guy in the store trying to buy a Christmas present. Deer in the headlights.
Sheep are dirty and need someone to clean them up. They could not do it on their own.
When sheep fall on their backs, they are like sea turtles on land, they cannot get up by themselves.
Sounds like people today! The good thing about sheep is they learn to know the voice of their shepherd- more about that in a minute.
The text right before chapter 10 talks of Jesus healing a blind man from birth.
Jesus asks the man if he believes in the “Son of man”, the man says yes and begins worshipping the Lord. Jesus makes a statement- “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind.”
There were some Pharisees present when Jesus did this they said “What are we blind too” Jesus says, if you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
If I was writing, it would like yea…duh! You are not only blind but you are full of yourself!
Listen to the first verse of the text again- “Very truly I tell you Pharisees… He is coming after the religious that have no relationship with Him. He is coming after all the skeptics who claim they know Him but do not know Him and are spiritually blind to the things of God.
Anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber. The sheep pens were usually made of stone on all sides with a gate. It is a pen to protect the sheep at night from outside dangers. Animals, and people who would rob and steal and hurt them are kept out. Different versions of text call them different things but there was a watchmen, gate keeper, on the gate. No one got in except the shepherd.
The shepherd’s voice was familiar to the sheep and they followed the shepherd where they needed to go. The shepherd would call “out his own” and his own followed.
It was not unusual for several shepherds to keep their sheep in the same pen.
It was not a problem of who’s sheep were who’s because they followed their shepherds voice and were afraid of the other shepherds as they entered the pens.
Scripture says that the Pharisees did not understand and needed Jesus to interpret.
We see the importance of the Shepherd in our lives to keep us safe and from the enemy of our souls.
As dumb as sheep are, they know their shepherds voice.
We begin to see the player’s here-
We are the sheep
Jesus is the shepherd
The Pharisees are the thieves and robbers.
The blind man went against the Pharisees and worshipped Jesus once he saw and experienced who he was and the Pharisees didn’t like it.
They claimed to be the ones who saw but they were the blind ones!
Jesus tells them… I am the gate for the sheep. All those that want to come a different way are robbers and thieves. The sheep know my voice and won’t listen. When they hear my voice, they will be able to come in and out and find pasture.
Psalm 23
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me to lay down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he refreshes my soul.”
Although this blind man never read scripture, he believed in Jesus and was healed.
Superficial knowledge of the scriptures can actually blind you and keep you from the truth. (Pharisees)
Let me read this in the passion version- Anyone else having fun this morning?
John 10:1-10 Passion
We have all been hurt by those who were suppose to be our watchmen- those that said they would not let anything happen to us.
Bible calls them watchmen at the gate.
If they were not committed to their sheep under their charge, when trouble comes, they would run. They would hide. They would only think of themselves.
Maybe it was only a job and not a passion.
The true shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He will guard that door and not let danger in and is willing to die for his sheep.
He would be the one looking for those that are coming by ways for robbing, stealing, destroying.
I would want to be a good shepherd to the people God has entrusted in this sheep pen.
We are like sheep the Scriptures say’s and without a shepherd we will not make it.
I would like to think that I would lay my life down for you to protect God’s word and keep you safe.
All teachers in all areas of ministry would want to walk so close to Jesus that we would not have any stumble because of something we have said or done.
It is a wakeup call for all of us called to His gospel… but there is only one good shepherd and His name is Jesus! let me say it again…we want to be shepherds the Lord can use but there is only one good shepherd and His name is Jesus!
The Lord is my shepherd! Take your eyes off me or any other shepherd and only follow as we follow the Lord. This way, no man will deceive you or cause you to stumble because of the actions of man- the Lord is your Shepherd, in Him you shall lack nothing!
Taking notes….
Sheep know the voice of the shepherd
Make sure you are hearing His voice!
There are many distractions.
Many voices wanting you to believe it is the Lord and it is a lie from the pits of Hell.
If what you are hearing does not line up with the word of God… it is not the Lord.
It is not your shepherd. We hear his voice, we know his voice, and we allow him to lead us.
It is a personal relationship where we are in tune to listening for His still small voice.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
The sheep pens with many sheep and a lot of different pastures and different shepherds. Each one hears his shepherd and is lead out of the sheep pen to move.
Here is what I like. This could be different churches with different pastors but Jesus says
(16) “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”
All these sheep pens, who are listening to my voice will one day all come together and worship and listen to God. Do you get that!
There is diversity in the kingdom of God- the Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles. All those that would accept Jesus as Lord and Savior from every walk of life!
The hurting, outcasts, dirty and stinky, the exiled Jews are all welcome if they would hear His voice and respond.
Gathering sheep is what the good shepherd does.
Sheep run from strangers and strange voices
As you hear the voice of the Lord, you should stay away from strange voices.
Some listen to the shepherd and then also listen to the enemy because the enemy tickled their ear. Stay away from strange voices that take you away from God.
Stay away from voices that call you to be isolated and alone. You are not a one man show and you and I need each other. You may hear from God in your alone times with Him but you also need to be present with Him as He speaks to the whole sheep pen.
The wolves attack the isolated sheep alone. The one that has gone off course and away from the shepherd.
Wolves attack as a group and will get the isolated from all sides if they are able.
You would think the devil would leave you alone if you have been through a lot but he does not care, he will attack without mercy and try to take you down when you are the most vulnerable and weak so that you will not influence the unbelievers.
When you hear the wolf howling, he is gathering up and calling other wolves.
Robert Morris talks about the wolf at the fringes of the pen attacking the weak and pulling the ones not paying attention.
Morris says that if he was the one on the fringes that he would excuse himself back to the middle and get as close to the shepherd as possible.
The bible talks about the enemy coming to “kill, steal, and destroy.”
He will do whatever he can to cause to you to leave the safety of the pen or keep you from ever getting into the safety of the pen.
The whole idea of a magician is to distract you first and then deceive you.
A trick is not good if you can figure out how it is done.
All can be explained if they had to tell you how they distracted you and how they deceived you so that they can get you to the end result without you knowing how you got there.
Closing
John chapter 10:11-15 Read from Bible
There are shepherds and there is THE GOOD SHEPHERD!
Jesus is the one who laid down His life for His sheep and wants to lead us and guide us in this life and promises the believer eternity with Him.
(19) “The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?
Illustration-
I want to tell you a story about Paul Morphy was the world’s champion chess player in the 19th century. One day he was invited by a friend to look at a valuable painting titled, “the chess player.” in the painting, Satan was represented as playing chess with a young man, the stake being the young man’s soul. the game had reached the stage where it was the young man’s move; but he was checkmated. there was no move he could make which would not mean defeat for him and so the strong feature of the picture was the look of utter despair on the young man’s face as he realized that his soul was lost.
Yet Morphy, who knew more about chess than the artist, studied the picture for a time, then called for a chessboard and pieces. placing them in exactly the same position as they were in the painting, he said, “I’ll take the young man’s place and make the move.” then he made the move which would have set the young man free.
Does your life feel like you are in a check mate position? YOU may feel as though nobody really understands your predicament tonight, you might be saying how can God ever forgive my sins and sense that there is no way out. Just like the young man in the chess game you’re soul has been bought, but you got to remember there is another champion in this Church tonight who sees your predicament and wants to take your place and make the right move.
The teaching of Jesus and of the New Testament is that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who seeks out the lost sheep…and He sees you!
The bad, irresponsible, or false shepherds represent the leaders, particularly the religious leaders, who fail to fulfill their duty towards God’s flock.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,” teaches Jesus in Matthew 18:12, “does he not go to the mountains to seek the one who is straying?” Thus does Jesus with us.
This week…William Shatner with his ten minute ride in space came back and said that this country has to do something about taking care of the earth and he said that the help is in us… I beg to different Bill… at least in the spiritual things of life, the help of all things concerning us is in Jesus the good shepherd. He cannot be left out of anything.
Let’s Pray
