Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 23:1-6, 1 Peter 2:19-25, John 10:1-10.
A). A PATTERN OF DEVOTION.
Acts 2:42-47.
Three thousand souls ‘gladly received (Peter’s) word’ and ‘were baptised’ that day (cf. Acts 2:41) - yet the revival of Pentecost was not yet over. To substantiate that we should realise the significance of the verse at the end of our present passage: “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). In other words, God is at work through the normal everyday devotion of His church.
These people who had so recently ‘believed’ and ‘been baptised’ (Acts 2:41) were now “devoted” to their new faith (Acts 2:42). “They continued steadfastly in” (persisted in their adherence to, intently engaged in, attended constantly to) “the teaching of the apostles and in fellowship, and to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42). These are four distinguishing marks of the New Testament church.
1. They were devoted to the teaching of the Apostles. This is fundamental: it is the Apostolic faith which we share. The equivalent today is the reading and studying of the Bible, which is a basic element of all truly Christian worship.
2. They were devoted to fellowship. This is expressed in the “holding of all things in common” (Acts 2:44) - manifested in the voluntary selling of possessions and distributing to those who had need (Acts 2:45). It is also seen in the sharing of meals in their houses (Acts 2:46) - (so not everyone was expected to sell their house!) Acts of charity, and hospitality, still mark out the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. They were devoted to the breaking of the bread. The use of the definite article is significant: “the” breaking of the bread has sacramental overtones, pointing here to the Communion, or Lord’s Supper; whereas “breaking bread from house to house… with simplicity of heart” (Acts 2:46) seems to point to a more informal practice.
4. They were devoted to the prayers. Again, the definite article. “The” prayers, may indicate their attendance at the Temple (Acts 2:46) - perhaps at the regular Jewish prayers, or in a rented room within the Temple, set apart for specifically Christian prayers.
What is perhaps strange here, is that we are NOT told that the church was ‘devoted to evangelism.’ Perhaps it was their whole lifestyle which spoke the loudest to those outside the group. Awe came upon the people around them, and signs and wonders continued at the hands of the Apostles (Acts 2:43).
It was as they were praising God, that they had favour with the people. And it was THE LORD who added to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:47).
B). THE SHEPHERD PSALM.
Psalm 23:1-6.
I. The LORD is my Shepherd.
Psalm 23:1-3.
When King David was a boy, he used to look after his father’s sheep - so he knew what he was talking about when he spoke of the LORD as his shepherd. As we all know, a “shepherd” looks after sheep. David led the sheep, but the LORD led David.
Yet one day the LORD called David away from that life of looking after sheep, and after many adventures David became king of Israel (Psalm 78:70-71). Instead of leading sheep, he was to lead God’s people. Now, more than ever, King David needed to follow the leading of the LORD God.
King David could look back on his life as a shepherd boy, and remember the times when God had helped him. One time a lion tried to steal a lamb. Another time a bear tried to steal a lamb. Both times the LORD helped King David rescue the lamb (1 Samuel 17:34-35).
Psalm 23:1. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack anything.”
Another Psalm tells us that there is ‘no good thing that the LORD will withhold’ from the people who walk in His righteous way (Psalm 84:11).
Jesus said that when we seek God’s kingdom, and His righteousness, He will provide for us all that we need (Matthew 6:33).
Psalm 23:2. “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” For a sheep, this means delicious green grass.
“He leads me beside still waters” – rather than scary noisy fast-running water in which the sheep might drown.
Sheep sometimes do silly things. I can remember seeing a sheep that had wandered onto the shore because it saw a nice piece of grass in the shallow water. When the tide started to come in, that silly sheep nearly got drowned.
God does not give us permission to go into silly places.
Psalm 23:3. “He restores my soul.” The shepherd rescues the sheep from dangerous and forbidden places. The LORD restores the life of His people.
“He leads me in the paths of righteousness” – the shepherd knows where the right paths are, and leads the sheep there. The LORD has given us His Word, the Bible, to guide us and to teach us in His ways.
“For His name’s sake.” The shepherd looks after his sheep properly so that people do not think that the shepherd is silly. When we disobey God, we dishonour His name.
Jesus is the good shepherd, who gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11). The shepherd calls His own sheep by name, and He leads them out. Those who hear the voice of Jesus will follow Him, and He leads us beside the still waters, and into the paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:2-3).
Jesus is the Shepherd of Israel (Psalm 80:1): but His flock (His people) includes those out of every nation, throughout all of time, who follow Him.
II. A Sheep's Response to the Good Shepherd.
Psalm 23:4-6.
‘All we like sheep have gone astray’ (Isaiah 53:6). Yet when we know Jesus as our Good Shepherd (John 10:14), we have full bragging rights (Psalm 23:1-3). One of the distinguishing marks of the Good Shepherd is His compassion towards an otherwise leaderless people (Mark 6:34).
Having told the other sheep about the Good Shepherd, the sheep now addresses Him in person. “You” are with me; “your” rod, and “your” staff comfort me (Psalm 23:4). “You” prepare a table before me; “you” anoint my head with oil (Psalm 23:5).
Finally, just in case the sheep still has fears in the dark valley (Psalm 23:4), the Psalm ends with the reassurance of a personal reflection (Psalm 23:6). The Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1), we might say, and His compassions they fail not (Lamentations 3:22-24). ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us’ (1 Samuel 7:12).
In the valley, death is only a shadow (Psalm 23:4). Since I am walking in the paths in which the Good Shepherd is leading me (Psalm 23:2-3), I need not yield to fear, for He is with me; His rod, and His staff they comfort me (Psalm 23:4). Countless times in the Bible we hear the LORD, His angel, and Jesus saying, ‘Fear not’ (e.g. Isaiah 41:10; Luke 2:10; John 16:33).
The “comfort” of the rod and staff is that they ward off enemies, but also keep me on the right path (Psalm 23:4). We have the ‘comfort’ of the Holy Ghost (John 14:26). This includes both direction and discipline.
The “table” is a place of feasting (Psalm 23:5). For the sheep, this is a plateau, previously prepared by the good shepherd. Cleared of noxious weeds, it is lush with the best grass.
There are both literal and spiritual applications of this concept for the believer. Just as the LORD provided manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:31), so He provides our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). Yet in the Bible He also feeds us with His words, and they are a delight to us (Psalm 119:103); ‘the words that I speak,’ says Jesus, ‘they are spirit and they are life’ (John 6:63).
Enemies (spiritual predators) can only look on when I am in the care of the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23:5). Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, is pacing up and down, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Yet he can come no nearer than the Lord allows (Job 1:12; Job 2:6).
“Anointing” (Psalm 23:5) is salve for healing, and the application of oil to deter parasites. It is also grease for the rams’ horns, to stop them from battering each other to death! The Lord tends to our spiritual injuries, and daily applies the ministry of the Holy Ghost to our individual situations.
The “overflowing cup” (Psalm 23:5) speaks of the kind of medicine that the shepherd might administer to the sheep in times of chill. It is a metaphor for the abundance that the sheep finds when it rests under the good shepherd’s care. The concept of blessings ‘running over’ appears also in the New Testament, as a response to our obedience to Jesus (Luke 6:38).
The cup of Christ’s suffering, which he drank to the full (Mark 10:38; Mark 14:36), fills our cup with an abundant overflowing of spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). Whatever we are suffering, He has been there already: rest in Him!
In the final verse, the sheep reassures itself that the mercy and love of the good shepherd have ‘got my back.’ David is saying, on our behalf, “my dwelling will always be with Him” (Psalm 23:6). This is a response of faith to all that has occurred so far, a response of confidence in the present, and a response of assured hope concerning all that is yet to come.
C). BEARING UP.
1 Peter 2:19-25.
The Apostle Peter uses his address to domestic servants (1 Peter 2:18) to illustrate the calling of all Christians to share in the sufferings of Christ. “For this is grace,” he quite literally says (1 Peter 2:19): this is acceptable; this is thankworthy - if out of consciousness of God, and in conscience toward God - we bear up and endure grief, suffering unjustly. Not only are some people maliciously punished for doing good, as might be the case of the domestic servant under a tyrannical head of the household, but any one of us might fall under various afflictions in the course of doing good.
Of course some of our sufferings can be traced directly to our own sins. Actions have consequences, and the servant breaking the household rules will be punished accordingly. If we are continuing a life of sin, and God continually buffets us for it - like waves beating against the seashore - what did we expect?
But if we continue firm and persevere in the face of unjust sufferings, “this is grace” (1 Peter 2:20): this is acceptable to God; this is thankworthy with God. This is, after all, our calling (1 Peter 2:21). The model was laid down in the sufferings of Messiah (Isaiah 53), and we are to follow in His footsteps.
If we ever think that our present afflictions are undeserved, then we must look to our example: who being free from personal sin (1 Peter 2:22) suffered uncomplainingly (Isaiah 53:7) for the sins of His people. He committed Himself to God - He gave Himself over to God - He surrendered Himself to God, who always judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23). Far from calling twelve legions of angels to His rescue (Matthew 26:53), He proved Himself willing to drink to the very dregs the cup of our just desserts (John 18:11).
In going to the Cross, Jesus bore the sin of many (Isaiah 53:12). Death and suffering are both consequences of sin. In His death we were made dead to sin, so that we might live to righteousness; our suffering is also brought to heel and healed in the wounds, the welts (Isaiah 53:5), which He bore on our behalf (1 Peter 2:24).
We were all like sheep going astray until the LORD laid our iniquity upon His suffering Servant (Isaiah 53:6). Only thus are we “now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls” (1 Peter 2:25). Peter would surely remember his own fall, and the Lord’s mercy in restoring him.
Let us be clear, in summary: the sufferings of Jesus were unique in that He suffered once for all, the just for the unjust (1 Peter 3:18). There is no lack of efficacy in the sacrifice of our Saviour, but the Apostle Paul by comparison speaks of “filling up that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ” for the church (Colossians 1:24). Just as Jesus had to suffer, so we are called to suffer.
D). I AM THE DOOR.
John 10:1-10.
JOHN 10:1. In every age of the Church there have been false shepherds, whose very entrance into the Ministry is suspect. The same are “thieves and robbers” who have entered the sheepfold by some way other than by the Lord’s appointing.
JOHN 10:2. Jesus claims that His commission is from the Father, and as such He is the true shepherd of the sheep.
JOHN 10:3a. Those who are the Lord’s will most certainly hear His voice. He called Lazarus by name, and the dead man emerged from his tomb. Jesus identified Himself to Mary after His own resurrection simply by speaking her name.
JOHN 10:3b. The shepherd calls His own sheep by name, and He “leads them out.” Thus we can personally sing, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ (Psalm 23:1). He leads us beside the still waters, and into the paths of righteousness.
JOHN 10:4. Those who hear the voice of Jesus will follow Him. ‘Follow me’ is the call at the beginning of John’s Gospel (cf. John 1:43); and ‘Follow thou me’ is at the end (cf. John 21:22). Following Jesus is ongoing.
JOHN 10:5. Those who set themselves up as leaders in their own right will find that true believers will be unresponsive to them. Even sheep know not to follow strangers!
JOHN 10:6. In their pride of office, the Pharisees could not see that Jesus was talking about them. These were the same Pharisees who had just excommunicated the man born blind whom Jesus had healed. It was they, after all, who were blind, and who were failing to hear the application of the picture to themselves!
JOHN 10:7. In the third significant “I am” saying of John’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims Himself to be “the door of the sheep.” He is the only one who, as Mediator, can give mere men an entrance into the presence of the Divine.
JOHN 10:8. As such, He is the door by which the true sheep enter; but also the door through which those who would benefit the sheep (as under-shepherds) should also pass. Unconverted Ministers are a disgrace to their profession!
JOHN 10:9. There is only one door to the sheepfold. Only one way into the kingdom of God. Only one way to get to heaven. Jesus is the only way!
JOHN 10:10a. “The thief” is in the singular number, indicating the arch-thief who lurks behind all who would take advantage of and deceive God’s flock. Those who want to ‘fleece’ God’s flock for their own financial gain are included here. Also, those who teach wrong things, thus destroying men’s souls. And remember, too, that Jesus identified the devil as ‘a murderer from the beginning’ (cf. John 8:44) – and these same Pharisees desired to kill Jesus!
JOHN 10:10b. By contrast, Jesus brings life in all its abundance: a fullness of life just now, and eternal life beginning from now.
