Sunday, May 2, 2004
Title: The Lord Is My Shepherd…Are We Good Sheep?
Text: John 10:22-30
Introduction
1. The world has over 1 billion sheep!
• Australia has the most sheep…
• The US has almost 9 million sheep…
• With Texas being the largest producer in this country.
• Some sheep are used for food and wool…
• They also provide milk and cheese…
• Others are wild.
• Sheep are more widely distributed than any other domesticated animal….
• Being found in almost every country of the world.
• Sometimes they are used as pack animals.
• Sheep are cud chewing animals with 4 stomachs… (1.)
• Think of the damage they could do at the Barnhills buffet with 4 stomachs!!
2. My wife grew up on farm and raised sheep…
• Some of the sheep nice, cute, and loveable…
• She loved her sheep…
• One she raised for 4H was named Jasper…
• When she finally had to sell Jasper…
• It was quite traumatic…
• Some of the sheep weren’t so cute…
• In fact, one in particular was downright mean…
• He was a ram…and his name was Sunshine…
• More about Sunshine later…
Read Text: John 10:22-30
I’ve titled my sermon this morning… “The Lord is my Shepherd…are we good sheep?” In our text, we find 4 things that characterize the sheep of Jesus.
Body
1. First of all, Jesus says, “My Sheep Listen to My Voice” vs 27
A. When Jesus says, “My sheep”…
• He is referring to people that belong to Him…
• The redeemed…
• Those that have been saved…
• He bought them at a great price…
• They have repented of their sin and accepted Jesus as their Great Shepherd…
• And they belong to Him…
B. Jesus says that the sheep that belong to Me…they listen to My voice.
• This is direct contrast to the Jews that gathered around Him in the Temple…
• They said, “How long will You keep us in suspense”?
• “Why don’t You just spit it out”?
• “Tell us plainly…are You the Christ”?
• And Jesus says, “I DID tell you…but you don’t believe”…
• Back in verse 3, Jesus illustrated this…
• He said, “The watchman opens the gate for the Shepherd, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” John 10:3-5 (NIV)
• That paints quite a picture in my mind…
• The Shepherd calls out to the sheep…
• Those sheep that recognize the Shepherd’s voice…
• They listen to that voice…
• But there are other sheep that don’t recognize His voice…
• They don’t listen to the Shepherd…
• They just keep doing whatever they want to do.
C. So, how does that apply to us a Christians?
• I think it’s fairly obvious…
• But it’s a lesson that’s worth stating…
• Even if it is obvious…
• If we consider ourselves Christians…
• Then we will listen to the voice of Jesus…
• If Jesus comes and calls out to us…
• Our ear will be tuned in to His voice…
• If we truly belong to Christ…
• If we are a “good sheep”…
• We will stop what we are doing…
• And pay attention to our Master’s voice…
D. But, what if we keep chewing our cud?
• What if we just focus on what WE want…
• And we disregard the voice of the Shepherd?
• Well, it’s pretty obvious that we haven’t recognized the Shepherd as our Master…
• Let me illustrate it like this…
• Let’s say that there’s this sheep named Bill…
• Bill says… “hey…I’m a pretty good sheep…
• In fact, I’m a Christian…
• See that Guy over there with the robe and beard?
• Carrying the Shepherd’s staff?
• That’s Jesus…
• I belong to Him…
• He’s my Master”…
• And then…we hear the Shepherd calling out…
• “hey Bill…come on…
• Time to go…”
• But Bill just ignores the voice…
• And keeps doing what he wants with his life.
• What does that say about Bill?
• That tells us that Bill can SAY he’s a Christian all he wants…
• But if he doesn’t listen to the voice of Christ…
• Then he doesn’t really belong to Christ…
• Jesus says, “My sheep listen to My voice”.
2. Jesus goes on to say, “I Know My Sheep” vs 27
A. A good shepherd knows all about his sheep…
• He knows about their health and well-being…
• He knows about their weaknesses…
• He knows about their strengths…
• He KNOWS…
• He understands…
• He cares…
• He has affection for each one…
• Sheep generally are not very smart…
• They can do some stupid things…
• They can get themselves into a real jam sometimes…
• But the good and patient shepherd knows and understands about his sheep…
• He loves them anyway…
B. In verse 14, Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd…
• I KNOW My sheep…
• And I lay down My life for the sheep”.
• I want to be one of Christ’s “sheep”…
• I want to listen to His voice…
• And, it gives me great joy to realize…
• That Jesus KNOWS me!!
• He knows when I’m hurting…
• He knows when I’m sad…
• He knows when I’m tempted…
• He knows when I’m scared…
• Not only does He know…
• But He knows exactly what is best for us.
C. D. L. Moody says this about sheep in one of his books,
• 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. (2.)
• Jesus knows what is best for us…
• We don’t always know what is best for us..
• We think in terms of immediate gratification…
• Christ thinks in terms of eternity….
• Which we will talk more about in a minute.
3. Jesus also said, “My Sheep follow Me” vs 27
A. This goes back to when we were talking about Bill, the Sheep.
• Not only must we HEAR the voice of the Shepherd…
• But we must obey…
• We must follow…
• None of this arguing…like the Pharisees…
• “But Jesus…if Your real and You really love me…
• Help me win the lottery…
• Do a miracle…
• Bless me…
• THEN I’ll follow You”…
B. Jesus knows what is best for His sheep…
• So He leads us; as Psalm 23 tells us…
• “The Lord is my Shepherd…
• He leads me beside quiet waters…
• He guides me in paths of righteousness”
• He leads us…
• But the all important question…
• Do we follow Him?
C. This has very practical ramifications for us today…
• I am convinced that Jesus, the Good Shepherd…
• Is speaking to people even today…
• He knows what is best for us…
• He knows what we need…
• And so, He endeavors to lead us and guide us in the way we should go…
• Every Church service…
• Jesus is here…speaking…leading…guiding…
• Do we follow?
• Do we obey?
• And not only here in church…
• When you are in your home…
• When you are “out and about”…
• Do you listen for the voice of Chirst?
• Are you attentive to that still small voice?
• If you are too busy,…
• Or too caught up in your own thoughts and feelings…
• You’ll miss it…
• But IF you’ll listen…
• Christ will speak…
• And when He does…
• I urge you to follow and obey!...
• Because the 4th characteristic of Christ’s Sheep is “out of this world”!
4. Jesus says, “I give My Sheep Eternal Life” vs 28
A. “They will never perish”…
• “no one can snatch them out of MY hand”…
• The Good Shepherd knows His sheep…
• And He loves them so very much…
• So He calls out to them…
• And if they listen…
• And obey…
• He has a great reward in store for them…
• Back to Psalm 23, the psalmist says, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”!
• What a powerful incentive for obedience!
B. Some people see in that phrase “no one shall snatch them out of my hand” as embracing eternal security…
• They believe that once they get saved…
• Nothing they can do will interfere with their eternal reward…
• And, in a way, it does speak about eternal security…
• In fact, I believe in eternal security…
• Let me explain…
• When I become a Christian…
• There is nothing that can snatch me away from Christ…
• No devil so powerful…
• No man or woman is so strong that they can pry me from God’s hand…
• Christ’s grip on us is unshakeable…
• As long as we place ourselves in God’s hand…
• We are secure…
• But the moment we step out of God’s hand…
• The security is gone…
• Let me illustrate it like this…
• When my children were little…
• And we were walking on an uneven path…
• I would hold on to my child’s hand…
• Someone could yell and scream at me…
• Someone could try to entice me to let go…
• But no one could do that…
• I wouldn’t get distracted by the beautiful scenery…
• The wind couldn’t blow strong enough to break my grip…
• But, if my child started to pull away…
• If they started crying…
• “daddy…I want to do it by myself”…
• I would explain to them…
• “this is dangerous…
• You will fall and hurt yourself…
• You should let me help you”
• But if they persisted in their whining…
• I would let go…
• And, of course, before long they would fall down and hurt themselves…
• And then, crying, they would run back to my arms…
• And wanting me to hold them…
• To kiss their boo-boo…
• And of course I would pick them up and give them a hug…
• I wouldn’t laugh at them because they fell and hurt themself…
• I wouldn’t refuse to pick them up;…
• Telling them, “I told you so”…
• But I WOULD say, “I love you…
• I want what is best for you…
C. We do the same things as Christians…
• We pull and complain to Jesus…
• “I want to do it by myself”…
• And Christ says…
• “Son…daughter…
• I know what’s best for you…
• I just don’t want you to fall”
• But we keep pulling and yanking and trying to get away…
• And Christ, never one to force His way upon us…
• Will reluctantly let us go…
• Knowing that we will most certainly fall…
• And will most likely come crying back to Him…
• To pick us up and again…
• And hold us and protect us…
• And Christ being Who He is…
• In His great love…
• He reaches out and picks us up…
• And holds us close…
• No…there is no power on earth powerful enough to snatch us out of God’s hand…
• Except for our own free will…
• Christ will never force us to follow Him.
Conclusion
1. Sheep are interesting creatures…
• Sometimes they are good sheep…
• Obediently following the Shepherd…
• But sometimes, sheep can be like Sunshine…
• Remember Sunshine?
• That was a ram on the farm when Kay was growing up…
• No matter how they tried to train and guide Sunshine…
• He was mean…
• He was tried to head-butt whoever happened to be in the pen…
• In fact, one time, Kay had turned her attention away for a moment…
• And Sunshine head-butted her…
• And she thinks that it broke her tailbone.
2. Now, I’ll be the first to admit…I don’t know much about sheep…
• But, as far as people go…
• There are good sheep…
• Who listen to the Master’s voice…
• And follow Him…
• And then there are bad sheep…
• Who go their own way…
• And the day is coming…
• When Christ says that God will separate the sheep from the goats…
3. And the determining factor in their destination…
• Did they listen and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd?
• Jesus is here today…
• He is speaking to people even now…
• Are you listening to His voice?
• Are you willing to follow Him?
• Or, are you just going to keep going your own way?
1. World Almanac for Kids @ http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/animals/sheep.html
2. Moody’s Anecdotes, pp. 70-71.
