INTRODUCTION - St Patrick’s Day
He was a Roman who was taken from his home in Scotland at 16 to be a slave in Ireland and his service was to be a humble Shepherd. Later he would shepherd as at were a whole people and train over 350 Shepherds of God’s flock. I am sure by now you have guessed his name: Patrick. We call him St. Patrick. The exact dates of his life are not certain, but one historian has it that he was born 387 and died March 17, 493. His day has been memorialized as a Feast Day, March 17. And of course he is the Patron of Ireland and the Irish, whose symbols are the cross, harp, serpent, baptismal font, demons, and the shamrock. All of these have significance in his biography.
On Easter Day in 433 the missionary band proceeded in processional order to Tara. It was on this occasion that Saint Patrick picked a shamrock, to explain by its triple leaf and single stem, in some rough way, to the assembled chieftains, the great doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. On that bright Easter Day, the triumph of the of gospel at Tara was complete. The Ard-Righ granted permission to Patrick to preach the Faith throughout the length and breadth of Erin, and the druidical prophecy like the words of Balaam of old would be fulfilled: the sacred fire now kindled by the saint would never be extinguished. Saint Patrick continued until his death to visit and watch over the churches which he had founded in all the provinces in Ireland. He comforted the faithful in their difficulties, strengthened them in the Faith and in the practice of virtue, and appointed pastors to continue his work among them. It is recorded in his Life that he consecrated no fewer than 350 bishops.
Listen to his own words in the CONFESSIO. This confession, filled with over 200 allusions to the Word of God, ends by saying "...if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God’s good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought, that---as is the perfect truth---it was the gift of God. This is my confession before I die." It was God’s grace, not his merit. Unlike the unholy communion that most often claims St. Patrick, He knew the free grace of God which comes through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone:
"I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many...I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people....And there the Lord opened my mind to an awareness of my unbelief, in order that, even so late, I might remember my transgressions and turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my insignificance and pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil, and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son. Therefore, indeed, I cannot keep silent, nor would it be proper, so many favours and graces has the Lord deigned to bestow on me in the land of my captivity.
For there is no other God, nor ever was before, nor shall be hereafter, but God the Father, unbegotten and without beginning, in whom all things began, whose are all things, as we have been taught; and his son Jesus Christ, who manifestly always existed with the Father, before the beginning of time in the spirit with the Father, indescribably begotten before all things, and all things visible and invisible were made by him. He was made man, conquered death and was received into Heaven, to the Father who gave him all power over every name in Heaven and on Earth and in Hell, so that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe. And we look to his imminent coming again, the judge of the living and the dead, who will render to each according to his deeds. And he poured out his Holy Spirit on us in abundance, the gift and pledge of immortality, which makes the believers and the obedient into sons of God and co-heirs of Christ who is revealed, and we worship one God in the Trinity of holy name.
Cf. THE LORICA (Breastplate Prayer) OF ST. PATRICK
A literal translation from the old Irish text made into the hymn we sung by Cecil Alexander.
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness, Through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today Through the virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism, The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial, The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension, The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I arise today Through the virtue of the love of seraphim, In the obedience of angels, In the hope of resurrection unto reward, In prayers of Patriarchs, In predictions of Prophets, In preaching of Apostles, In faith of Confessors, In purity of holy Virgins, In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today Through the strength of heaven, Light of sun; Radiance of moon, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of wind, Depth of sea, Stability of earth, Firmness of rock.
I arise today Through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak to me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to be before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to save me, From snares of devils, From temptations of vices, From all who shall wish me ill, Afar and anear, Alone and in multitude.
I invoke today all these virtues Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul, Against the incantations of false prophets, Against the black laws of heathenism, Against the false laws of heresy, Against the deceits of idolatry, Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids, Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against death-wound, That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ to shield me today So there come to me abundance of reward,
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness, Through confession of the oneness of the Creator of Creation.
St. Patrick - just as many of other great servants of God was raised up by our sovereign Lord and used him mightily in fulfilling His promise: "For I am very much God’s debtor, who gave me such grace that many people were reborn in God through me and afterwards confirmed, and that clerics were ordained for them everywhere, for a people just coming to the faith, whom the Lord took from the utmost parts of the earth, as He once had promised through His prophets: To Thee the gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth and shall say: `How false are the idols that our fathers got for themselves, and there is no profit in them’; and again: `I have set Thee as a light among the gentiles, that Thou mayest be for salvation unto the utmost part of the earth.’
What marvelous encouragement is the great cloud of witnesses that has run the race set before us! St. Patrick - in being an undershepherd to the people of Ireland was a the man of God’s choosing in fulfilling His promise: John 10:16 - "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."
THESIS: Jesus is the great Shepherd of the flock because He fulfilled the covenant plan of redemption by offering His eternal blood as the resurrected Lamb of God. He made the ultimate sacrifice so that His sheep would have true peace through the grace of God. Therefore, we have the means of performing His revealed will, especially our sanctification in Christ. This is clear to us through: 1) The Biblical representation of the Good Shepherd is that He provides, protects, and prospers the sheep (Psalm 23). 2) The covenantal reason that Jesus is the Greatest Shepherd is because of His role in prophetic fulfillment of the coming Shepherd and His redemptive love for the flock of God’s people (John 10). 3) The result of the work of the Great Shepherd is our peace with God and our progression in the graces of sanctification.
OUTLINE: A Structure for Listening
The Biblical Representation of the Good Shepherd
He provides, protects, and prospers the sheep - Psalm 23
The Covenantal Reason Jesus is the Greatest Shepherd
His role in prophetic fulfillment, His redemptive love
The result of the work of the Great Shepherd
Our peace with God, Our progression in the graces of Sanctification
Hebrews 13:20:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Biblical Representation of the Good Shepherd
He provides
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
We can draw a great deal of encouragement for our own souls from those five words: The LORD is my shepherd.
As Phillip Keller said in his book, "A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23," to a great extent the Bible is couched in rural terminology, dealing with outdoor subjects and natural phenomena.
Once we remove this earthy language of concrete, non-abstract, agrarian metaphor, we do not have much. I came across this:
Mr Data Reads Psalm 23 (or an Engineer Looks at the Shepherd’s Psalm)
The Lord and I are in a shepherd-sheep relationship, and I am in a position of negative need. He prostrates me in a green-belt grazing area, and conducts me into lateral proximity with a non-torrential aqueous accumulation. He restores to original satisfaction levels my psychological makeup.
Notwithstanding the fact that I make ambulatory progress through the non-illuminated geological interstice of mortality; terror sensations shall not be manifest within me, due to the proximity of omnipotence. Your pastoral walking aid and quadruped-restraint module induce in me a pleasurific mood state. You design and produce a nutrient-bearing support structure, in the context of non-cooperative elements....
Protects
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Shorter Catechism Q26: How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A26: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself,[1] in ruling and defending us,[2] and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.[3]
Prospers the sheep
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.
The words of John 10: that they might have life and have it abundantly. The Greek text here i[na zwh.n e;cwsin kai. perisso.n e;cwsinÅ means that his sheep may keep on having or have a surplus. Greek scholar A.T. Robertson says, "Abundance of life and all that sustains life, Jesus gives."
The Covenantal Reason Jesus is the Greatest Shepherd
His role in prophetic fulfillment,
Larger Catechism Q36: Who is the Mediator of the covenant of grace? A36: The only Mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ,[1] who, being the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal with the Father,[2] in the fulness of time became man,[3] and so was and continues to be God and man, in two entire distinct natures, and one person, forever.[4]
John 10:1 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. 7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 "All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Cf: 2 Sam 5:2, Jer 34:23, Isa 40: 9
JUDGMENT: Zech 11: 16 "For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces. 17 "Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded."
Larger Catechism Q38: Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God? A38: It was requisite that the Mediator should be God, that he might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death;[1] give worth and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience, and intercession;[2] and to satisfy God’s justice,[3] procure his favor,[4] purchase a peculiar people,[5] give his Spirit to them,[6] conquer all their enemies,[7] and bring them to everlasting salvation.[8]
THAT’S JUST TO SAY THE Good Shepherd lays down His life for his Sheep.
His redemptive love
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
The result of the work of the Great Shepherd
Our peace with God
Dante said, "In His will is our peace."
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace [Vincent says, not "contentment" but "reconciliation with enemies’] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
BECAUSE GOD IS ANGRY: Psa 7:10 My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart. 11 God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. 13 He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts.
Rom 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Our progression in grace: provision, protection, and prosperity for our souls now and forevermore.
Heb 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Make you complete is: katarti,zw (aorist optative). It is the word found in Mark 1:19, When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets." Also used in Galatians 6:1 - Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
The NIV - Equip you with everything good for doing his will,
Hear the words of the Belgic confession on our Sanctification (XXIV)
We believe that this true faith, being wrought in man by the hearing of the Word of God and the operation of the Holy Spirit, sanctifies [1] him and makes him a new man, causing him to live a new life, and freeing him from the bondage of sin. Therefore it is so far from being true that this justifying faith makes men remiss in a pious and holy life, that on the contrary without it they would never do anything out of love to God, but only out of self-love or fear of damnation. Therefore it is impossible that this holy faith can be unfruitful in man; for w all not speak of a vain faith, but of such a faith which is called in Scripture a faith working through love, which excites man to the practice of those works which God has commanded in His Word.
... Therefore we do good works, but not to merit by them (for what can we merit?); nay, we are indebted to God for the good works we do, and not He to us, since it is He who worketh in us both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.... Moreover, though we do good works, we do not found our salvation upon them; for we can do no work but what is polluted by our flesh, and also punishable; and although we could perform such works, still the remembrance of one sin is sufficient to make God reject them. Thus, then, we would always be in doubt, tossed to and fro without any certainty, and our poor consciences would be continually vexed if they relied not on the merits of the suffering and death of our Savior.
Rene Descartes, the famous philosopher and mathematician said, "To know what people really think, pay regard to what they do, rather than what they say."
Are you listening the voice of your shepherd in His word?
Or are you a straying sheep whose legs may soon be broken in chastisement? "Whom the Lord loves, he disciplines."
Spurgeon reminds us: What is there in you, dear friend, more than there is in any other professor, why you should not prove an apostate after all? What is there about me that I should stand where so many others have fallen? There is nothing to hold me up if I am left to myself; but if, confessing my liability to fall, confessing my liability to be seized by the lion, and the bear, and the wolf, I can still say, "The Lord is my Shepherd," I am safe! The sheep is not safe because it says, "I am stronger than the lion;" or, "I am able to escape from the bear;" or, "I shall always be able to avoid the wolf." Silly sheep, what canst thou do to protect thyself from thy foes.
St. Patrick said, "But after I came to Ireland---every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed---the love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened." I believe that St. Patrick knew the truth - THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.
