Please turn with me, if you would, to First Peter, Chapter 2, verses 18 to 25. Before we read this text, let us seek our God in prayer, let us pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given us your everlasting truth. And we ask that you would open it up to us that we would see Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the flock, the one who oversees our souls. Ever give us a sight into him through faith. Deal with us graciously. We beseech you. And even as we ask, O Lord, we recognize we deserve nothing. We have squandered so many of your blessings, but we always come as beggars looking to a mighty, sufficient, gracious Savior. that you might deal mercifully with us. Oh, Lord, hear us for the sake of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Amen. A chapter two, verses 18. The verse 25. About a year ago, last May, we went through this text, we focus on the suffering, the theme of this passage. But we did not develop very thoroughly the whole concept of Christ as a shepherd and overseer. And as we're going through the names and titles of our Lord, that is what we'll focus on in verse 25. I remind you, this is God's word. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer, suffer it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you. leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds, you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. May the Lord bless the reading of his word for his glory and our benefit. January 22nd, two months ago, I preached on John 10 on the Good Shepherd. In that passage, Jesus presents himself as a shepherd. He reveals what he will do as a good shepherd. It has the future in mind. He offers himself as one who would seek out the sheep. In this passage in 1 Peter, the shepherd has already acted and he continues to act. He acts as the shepherd of our souls. It's in the present. In some sense, John 10 is speaking about the future. And in 1 Peter 2, he's speaking about the present. It is much like a young man who is courting a young woman. He makes himself known to her as a promising husband. Later on, he is that husband. In 1 Peter, we have that shepherd. He is that shepherd, that good shepherd, the overseer of our souls in the present. We also mentioned that the whole Old Testament yearns for and pushes toward Jesus Christ as the shepherd. In Israel, the shepherds, the kings, the priests and all the others who are supposed to serve as shepherds, they failed miserably. And God promised that he would send a great shepherd who would restore the flock and bring them in. Jesus is that promise and yearn for a shepherd of the flock. He is the good shepherd of John 10, 14. He is the great shepherd of the sheep of Hebrews 13, 20. He is the shepherd and overseer of this very passage, the chief shepherd of 1 Peter 5, 4. And in Revelation 7, 17, we read for the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. In that passage, the land himself will be the shepherd, twisting the imagery, but conveying a simple point. Jesus Christ is the shepherd. But in this passage, he's the shepherd and the overseer. He's the one who oversees. He is the bishop. It could be translated. This is used in other places like Acts. In reference to the elders, elders are overseers and elders are presbyters or elders, and those terms are used interchangeably in the New Testament. Jesus is the chief shepherd, the chief elder, the chief overseer, and he is the first and foremost in that matter. But the idea here is a simple one. The imagery is one of sheep needing, tending and oversight. Sheep are dumb and they need leadership and guidance. And the profession of believers is a simple assumption here that is an offense to many people in our generation. That Jesus Christ is my shepherd, the one who oversees me. And that word for oversee is none other than guardian. He's the one that guards me, protects me and guides me. That is an offensive statement to many people. I don't need anybody to tell me what to do. I run my own life. I am independent. I don't need a crutch like you people. We look at our children. We try to size them up. Is he or is she a leader or is she or he a follower? We're always afraid if they're followers, because who will they follow? Will they have enough discernment to follow what is right? Will they follow the Lord alone? And we can see that in children. We can see that in personalities. But when it comes to spiritual lives, we are all sheep needing to be led. But the delusion of the unbeliever, the delusion of someone who doesn't know Jesus Christ, is he or she thinks they're sufficient. I don't need someone telling me what to do. Remember, Dr. Phil, how's that working out for you? Part of the delusion of sin is life seems to be OK. What would you say to a bunch of narcotics, someone who's stuck in drugs and alcohol and they all think they're OK? We know they're not. But they're convinced that doesn't make them. Of sound mind. They did not bring themselves into life. They cannot sustain their own existence. They cannot prevent or prevent external forces. They cannot control or conquer death. They have no control in this world. And they say to God and to Christians, I don't need someone to guide me. At every moment, their life is held by the shepherd. It's sustained by the Lord of Lords. They don't need a shepherd, they say. Friends, anyone in here who may be responding that way, you are lost. And in his mercy, he brought you to this room. You need a shepherd for your soul because you are lost in sin and the infection of sin that you think you're healthy when in fact you are dead in sin. And he comes as a shepherd who oversees and cares for his flock. And that is what is presented here. I want to bring up three simple points of general questions. Essentially, what has the shepherd and overseer done? And that is the first point. What has the shepherd and overseer done? First of all, he suffered as our example in verses 21 to 23. He suffered as our example for the dish you have been called. Because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was the seed found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile and return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example. One of the things the Great Shepherd has done, he has become an example. We want to explain what that means. It doesn't mean we just simply go through suffering for its own sake. He suffered for us, it says. Leaving us as an example in the light of all his teaching, he says his disciples will be persecuted. And he becomes the supreme example. We will talk about another facet of that suffering. But the important thing in this passage is a group of believers. They're suffering. How are they to respond? Respond like their Lord. Not to earn their salvation, not to merit his acceptance, not to do something to gain approval. But to show their solidarity, union and faith in the Lord. They will have him who suffered for him. You know, much like if I can use an illustration. If you've been invited to a home and you have a young son with you. And the family invites you and they feed you and the food is simply awful. And the child knows it. And everybody sitting around the table knows it. And the child looks at his father, how is my dad responding? And the father eats with a smile and talks on as if it's all okay. The son looks, he's given a cue, he knows what to do. That's the example. The son doesn't do it to earn his father's affection. The son is saying, how do I respond in a situation like this? I see my dad acting this way. That's the way I'm supposed to respond. And Jesus Christ has undergone suffering for us. And he said, you are my disciples and the world will hate you. How will you respond? Because you are united to me. Follow my example, not to earn my approval, but to show that you are mine. So it becomes an example here. And if you recall, we've shown when we were going through this passage of May of 2011, if you recall, we showed from this text that suffering as a paradigm is not a side issue. I use an example of a bus stop. It's not something we stop temporarily in so we can move on. It's not a detour. Suffering is a way of life for believers because we follow him. Now, that's to be our example. What has the shepherd and overseer done? He has suffered as our example. And secondly, he suffered for our redemption. Verse 24, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that he might die to sin, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed. Several key phrases here we need to understand. Something that believers all understand at one level. He's the shepherd who offered up his life for the sheep. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. The idea of bearing our sins in his body, we've learned that from the Old and New Testament that the wages of sin is death. Death must come to the body. Death must come to the person. Jesus Christ will take upon the sins of his people. Going back to Isaiah 53, the imagery all comes from there. And the point is, he has paid the debt for our sins. He has paid the penalty, which is death in his body. Why is that significant? That means all our sins have been dealt with. Friends, consider this. Think of it right now, there are many foreclosures going on. Many people struggling to pay off their houses or to pay their monthly mortgage. They have an incredible amount of debts. But what if your good uncle came along? Let's say you had a very rich one. And he tells you, don't worry, I'll take care of it. But you don't understand. It's a lot of money. Not only that, all my credit cards, my car and everything, everything. Don't worry. The month comes and you want to pay, and the balance is zero in your mortgage. You go online and check your credit card, balance is zero. You call the car financing department, the balance is zero. All the debt paid. And you would be astounded and thankful. And that's just at a monetary level. Now let's look at your sins. You're indebted for your sins. You deserve hell and death. And when he bore your sins in his body and took upon himself the penalty for the sin, the debt has been paid. All the past sins, all the present and all the future, he has suffered for you. That on Judgment Day, those sins would not be counted against you. But oh, Lord, I have sinned so often. Jesus knew. You're ashamed now he knows more of your sins than you know of yourself. He knows of your future failures, and yet he loved you and gave himself up for you and died for you. Paid in full. That's the astounding thought. That's the shepherd who oversees us. That's what he has done. He has paid in full. It says that here on the tree, the example from Galatians 3.13 is that anyone who hangs on a tree is cursed. Jesus became a curse for us. And because our debts have been paid, there's no condemnation. And I've said this a hundred times, and I have to declare it every time. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's not an accusation that can come against you. There's only one person that can condemn you. It's God the Father. And he looked at the son. He paid it all. And all the sins that you committed, the shame you brought, and the conscience that overwhelms you. You stand before God when you die. It is gone. You look, there is no condemnation. There is no angry stare. But the Father brings you in for the sake of the Son. Because Jesus hung on the cross. He died on the tree and bore the shame and curse that the Father might freely embrace you. That is what the Great Shepherd has done. Brothers, that frees us. Because the devil accuses all the time. And there's only one remedy for all your sins, every one of them, that Jesus Christ has bore in his body my sins. He has paid the penalty, no condemnation for me. No debt, no bill. But notice what Peter also says. What has he done by his wounds? You have been healed. The healing here is a consummate healing. It's the idea of how his wounds are suffering. He underwent heals everything regarding who we are. It's our entire person and eventually our entire body. All that we have that that decays in ourselves. It's healed. What glory, but the more important thing is the healing of our hearts and souls, the healing and mending that he brings about through his suffering. So he restores your heart. He gives you joy. He gives you ability. He gives you things you couldn't do before because he restores and heals. That's what the good shepherd has done. That's what the shepherd and overseer has done. But the most important thing is as he changes your heart, he enables you to turn to him. It is the unbeliever who thinks he's sufficient. It is the unbeliever who thinks he's independent. But the great shepherd, when he opens his heart, all of a sudden he sees his bankruptcy. And by his wounds, he heals them and turns his heart. As I was reading, you're going to hear a lot of this, as I was reading John Newton. There's a footnote regarding a friend of his that Newton had known. His name was Mr. Aikman. A Scott. Who in the late 1700s left Scotland to sail to Jamaica. To oversee one of the plantations there. And like anybody going on a long voyage, he wanted to grab something to entertain himself. So he grabbed a bunch of books. And he spied a book called Cardiphonia. He thought that was a strange title. He grabbed it thinking it was a novel. Cardifonia, the utterances of the heart is the famous work of John Newton, of his letters. He's stuck on a boat now, he begins to read only to find out this isn't a novel. But he reads. And in God's providence. He is led to conversion. He was a man who thought he was not lost. He was a man who thought all was well. He was simply going to entertain himself. But through the truth of his servant. The Lord converts him on a boat and he becomes a congregational minister after. That's what the shepherd does. He heals, he enables a person to see who he or she really is and turns them to himself. The second point, what does a shepherd and overseer do? Not only what has he done, but what does a shepherd do? We dealt with the shepherding aspect some time ago, but I want to deal with the overseer. The word overseer is the same one that's used in the Greek Old Testament in Ezekiel 3411, where it's translated in the ESV as he will seek out his sheep. I will seek them out. It's the same verbal form as this one here, the overseer. It's the same kind of word. And the idea is one who oversees and guards and visits and cares for. And that's the notion here. He is the one who guards. He's the one who oversees and visits them and cares for them. He's the one who seeks him out. That's the concept here of an overseer. But notice the phrase here, the overseer of your souls. What a comforting thought. As I get older, as I try to mature in Christ, I wonder how much progress there is. I find comfort in this simple truth. The Lord is my keeper. He's my overseer, my guardian. He's the one that will keep me. He's the one that will keep me and protect me. He's the overseer of my souls. The idea of the soul represents the entire person. It's who you are. Body, soul and mind and all. He oversees. But the shepherd that he is, we are so prone to wander. We need keeping, we need protecting, we need leading, we need a shepherd, we need a guardian, we need a protector. From straying, he protects us. What does he do? Look at your life. We've made a mess of ourselves at times, haven't we? Our Lord is our keeper. In spite of my frailty, he keeps me. And I'll make it to the end, not because I'm strong or resolute. because the Lord is the one who oversees me. And you'll make it to the end because the Lord is the one who oversees you and protects you. The teaching here is simple. We strayed, we wandered, and like sheep, we come to him. We're converted to him. And now we're safe. But not only does he keep us, One of the things he does in the mature believer as he causes the believer to grow. It's one of the things he does, it's an interesting thing that every godly person as they work through this, they see this going on. What is the tendency for you and me to be self-sufficient? I can go on now, I've crossed this point in my life, I can move on spiritually. And one of the things he always does. He enables us to see we are utterly insufficient in of ourselves. This quote I read from Newton this week, it's a marvelous quote, it's a simple statement. He says the holiness of a sinner. Consists chiefly. Of low thoughts of self. And high thoughts of the Savior. The holiness of a sinner consists chiefly of low thoughts of self and high thoughts of the Savior. What does he do? As the one who oversees you, he enables you to see you need him. And the more you begin to despise everything that you are, he says, OK, now look to me. I'm your sufficiency. I'm your Savior. We love it when we can look to Him and go, look God, I've been good. No. Lord, I can leave you. I can be like Peter. I can be so proud and I'll fall. But He'll enable you to have low thoughts of yourself and a high thought of Him. Not only does He keep and protect you, But he also regulates you as the overseer. Look at verse 24. That he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. What's he doing? He's doing one thing in your life to make you holy. He does not oversee you and protect you to enable you to lead a life as a straying sheep. Some people think that's what he does. He made you so you can go on doing what you want. You know, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, he was a physician, a physical physician. He was a renowned doctor. You read his biography and there's an astounding event that occurs, he realizes a great medical doctor. He was affecting many people healing them. But what struck him was. As he worked in them, as he medically worked on them and healed them, they were simply being healed so they can continue in their sin. They were enabled to continue in their life. It was not changing them. Then he forsook his medical profession. And became a preacher. That he can deal with the thing that truly mattered. To heal their souls through the preaching of the word. When he regulates you, he does not oversee and protect you so you can go on in your own way. So that you might die to sin. And live on to righteousness. He doesn't protect you necessarily from consequences, so he controls all of it. Consequences of your sins. So he will deal with the punitive aspects of judgment of your sin. He may allow many things to happen to you. so that you would die to sin and live unto righteousness. What an amazing, simple phrase. We might die to sin and live to righteousness. And that's what he does as the overseer. So we learn two things. We learn that the overseer is keeping and protecting you, enabling you to continually look to him. But we also see he regulates you, helping you To grow in holiness and die to sin. And thirdly, that the third question is this. How are we to respond to the shepherd and overseer? How are we to respond to the shepherd and overseer? Now, this phrase needs to be interpreted, but you were straying like sheep. But have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. What does that mean? Let me read to you one commentator. He says it this way. Returned does not suggest that they had been with Christ prior to their strain. For the very same verb is used elsewhere of turning or being converted from sin and several passages could be cited. So what's going on here is not returning to Christ the way you were before, but it's actually converting to Christ. It's going back to their past event when Christ turned them, enabling them to submit to him and believe in him. So how are we supposed to respond to the shepherd and overseer of our souls? Let me challenge through three groups of people here, believers, children and unbelievers. The believers. He is the overseer of your souls. He's your shepherd. He has your best interest in mind. But he doesn't come to you asking your permission to deal with your life as you see fit. But he loves you. And he purchased you. And he wants you to be able to say what the psalmist of old has said. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Brothers and sisters, in the midst of sickness, in the midst of deprivation, anxiety and pain, can you say, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's what a true believer says. And he will enable you to say it eventually, if you haven't been able to yet. And when you confess that with the truest of heart, you are free. You are free to wander about in the green pastures because you know he cares for you. He's your guardian. Therefore, you don't need to fear. How do you respond? You respond by believing, believer, that he indeed is a shepherd and overseer of your souls. We can confess it theoretically, but it really shows up practically in our lives, in the daily things that befall us. Can you really say the Lord is my shepherd? I shall not want that. Now let me challenge children. The youth, the young and the old in this room. God, in his mercy, has placed you in a Christian home. Not some of you may be the first to complain, but you don't understand the kind of Christian home I'm in. You're the first to raise all kinds of objections against your parents. No, God has placed you. And it doesn't matter the circumstances. He has placed you in a Christian home. That you might turn to him. And his mercy has placed you in a situation where you can hear the preaching of the word. You can be instructed at home. So that you might turn to him. We went to a conference this week. One of the speakers made some puzzling comments. I talked to him that night. And it still didn't satisfy me. The idea being that if you're raised in a covenant home, in a Christian home. Well, there's really no conversion per se. My friends, that's not true. You were born in sin. You love sin. Unless God regenerated you, you need to turn to Christ. You need to be converted. And some of you may never know of a moment when you did not love the Lord. Praise the Lord for that. But do you hate your sin? Do you see your need for him on a daily basis? That's what matters. Not I've been raised in a Christian home. It just goes through like A, B and C. It doesn't matter. You were strained like sheep. But now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. You were born in sin. And until he regenerates you, you don't naturally become a child of God. You place you in a covenant context. That in his mercy he might draw you, but convert you must. May God be gracious. Ask yourself this. Have you turned and believed? And can you say Jesus is the shepherd of my soul, the overseer of my soul? And lastly, and quickly. Not only to believers, to children, but to unbelievers. Many of us, as we were straying like sheep. By invisible hands were turned to him. We have to come to grips with who we were. We are sinners and we still are. And some of you are still lost in sin. Friends, I don't want to beat you black and blue. But may I challenge you, you are lost. And there is before you only eternal death. Christ comes as a good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. And he offers you life. What does turning mean? I need a savior. I need a shepherd. I need someone to forgive me of my sins. And Jesus will because he has paid the penalty for them. You must believe in order to be saved. It all comes back to Jesus, and I'll end with this. Many of you know The new iPad just came out and there will be another one. There will be a new car every year. There will be a new refrigerator, everything new and new and new. And the way the world goes is we promise something new every year and it promises much and delivers nothing. That's how we do it. We go on and on and on and then we die and expire. It promises so much it never delivers. But what's amazing about the Christian faith is it goes back to one simple thing. Jesus Christ. The same Christ who died for sinners. We go back to Him over and over again. We find satisfaction, pardon and joy. That's the difference between the world. All they can do is smoke and mirrors, like keep on going, busy ourselves, new, new, new. And perhaps there's a pot of gold at the end, but you just die. But for believers, the Bible always points us back to Christ, the shepherd and overseer of our souls. The same Christ who renews us by his power. That's what you need. That's what you need more than anything else in every situation you're in. This shepherd, this overseer, friends, will you not go to him? And find satisfaction in him. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, You are the exalted shepherd. The bishop overseer of our souls. You keep us, you protect us. And you regulate us through your word. That in the end, you might be glorified as you preserve us unto the end. Father, forgive us for doubting the good shepherd. Forgive us, O Lord, that we think we're self-sufficient when we're not. But, O Great Shepherd, we ask that you might visit some souls in this room and enable them to be your sheep. Oversee their souls and turn them to you, the straying sheep, and may they find their Lord and Shepherd. Have mercy, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.