Verse 35 of chapter 9, Jesus heard that they had cast him out. When he had found him, he said unto them, dost thou believe the Son of God? And again, chapter 10, verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. This afternoon, having looked at Psalm 80 in the morning and seeing the shepherd king and the return that we would have of him, we'll look this afternoon in John 10 concerning that great one shepherd. For many of us, this is a very familiar passage. and a familiarity that we may miss certain things on. And part of that is because of the chapter divisions. Chapter divisions are not inspired. They're given and made somewhere around the 14th century. And from then forward, we've had these certain helps to kind of aid us in being able to see certain parts of the Bible and where they fit. But one of the disadvantages to this is we tend to think that one chapter is not connected to another chapter, and this is not the case. We come to John's gospel, and John is unique from the other gospels. We often speak of Matthew, Mark, and Luke as the synoptic gospels, syne, optic, one eye. That is, the way that they do their gospels is very similar. a very similar pattern. John, not so. And it's likely John is the last gospel written of the four. John is writing his probably closer to 90 AD. And John gives to us his reason for why he's writing the gospel, both for the content and its thesis. In chapter 21, 31, the end of his gospel, chapter sorry 20 verse 30 from 31 we read this many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name. John gives to us his reasoning for the gospel and why it differs. The purpose of it isn't to lay out the entirety of his ministry as the other disciples do. as the other gospel accounts, but instead to specifically write that you might believe what has been said. You might have caught that he said there's many things that Jesus did that were not recorded by him. In chapter 21, he makes the same note that if it were possible to write down all the works of Christ, that even all the libraries would not be able to contain it. And John gives to us a picture of that, in that John gives some things that are very unique to his gospel. You can't find this passage, John chapter 10, concerning the Great Shepherd in the other gospel accounts. And it speaks somewhat to what John is doing for us, and it's a benefit to us. This afternoon, as we consider the Great One's Shepherd, looking at Chapter 10, verses 1 to 18, we'll consider three things together. First, we'll consider the manner of the great shepherd, then the meaning of the shepherd, the great shepherd, and then lastly, the measure of the great shepherd. So, the manner of the Great Shepherd in the first six verses, the meaning of the Great Shepherd in verses seven through 16, and the measure of the Great Shepherd in verses 17 and 18. A little bit different. I'm not going to be expositing the first one, but rather demonstrating to you, as we had read all of chapter nine into chapter 10, what the manner of that Great Shepherd is. Now, I spoke to you in part in the introduction concerning John's manner, the purpose of his gospel, why he's writing his gospel. Now understand this, it's a gospel indeed. He is not leaving out things that are crucial and necessary for a gospel to be considered a gospel. He has the origin of Christ. He has his ministry. He has his death, burial, and resurrection, and meeting with the apostles after his death. All these things are crucial and necessary for a gospel to be a gospel. And this is why the longer ending of Mark is the true ending, because without Christ returning to see his disciples after his resurrection, he's not being true to his word, and the gospel account is unfulfilled. John here is giving to us a glimpse, the manner of Christ. Remember, Christ is that shepherd. He is that prophet that was going to rise up that was like unto Moses. So Moses in Deuteronomy says there will be another prophet like unto me, hear him. And Joshua, likely writing after the death of Moses, or Samuel perhaps, says there was not another prophet that rose up after Moses that was like him. Joshua was not the prophet that Moses was talking about. There's another Joshua he was talking about, and that is the one Jesus that we know. That's the same name, as you realize. Not the Joshua of the Old Testament, but the Joshua of the New Testament is that one greater than Moses. And he, like Moses, was a shepherd. You see this theme of shepherding early on, all the way back after the fall, outside of the garden. Abel is a shepherd. Have you ever wondered why Abel was a shepherd? Why would Abel care to do that? As far as we know, there was no provision given to the people on earth pre-flood to eat flesh. We know that was granted after the flood, but it doesn't seem like that was allowed before the flood. So why keep in tent animals that you can't eat? Why bother? And the answer is that it has to do with the worship that is demanded of God. What's clean or an unclean animal? Early on, it's assumed by Moses in Genesis that the people understand the difference between clean and unclean. Later on, he's gonna establish that in other parts of the law. But whether it's Abel bringing the lamb, Noah, that sets aside seven of each of the clean animals. Onward, Abraham offering sacrifices, he offering what? A ram, which we find out later on is a clean animal. It was already established after the fall when God took the skins of the animals that he made coats for Adam and Eve. He demonstrated to them, this is a clean animal, this is what you must offer to me. Why was Abel a shepherd early on? Because he cared so much for the worship of God. He wanted to see it secured and established. Now that doesn't mean that someone couldn't be a husbandman. It doesn't mean that Cain was wicked simply because he was a farmer. It's not the case at all. But rather you see Abel's heart. in being a shepherd that way. David is a shepherd. Moses was a shepherd on the backside of the wilderness for his father-in-law Jethro. Jacob is a shepherd. And you see shepherding being done by the people of God all throughout the Old Testament. And so we come to Jesus in the New Testament. And I find it interesting that he is called not a carpenter, as is often presumed, but the son of the carpenter. I often wonder if he took up shepherding, and we just were never told. I don't know, it's speculation. But he definitely has a shepherd's heart. He is like his forefather, David. He is David's greatest son, and while Solomon was not a shepherd per se, Christ definitely is a shepherd. the manner of his shepherding. So as some of the prophets of old were, like Samuel, he was a peripatet. Samuel had a circuit where he would go around and he would shepherd the people of God. He'd stop at each city and speak to them. Jesus is like Abraham and like Jacob, where the promise was given to Abraham, everywhere that your soul treads of your feet, that land will be given to you. And so you see Abraham going up and down and east and west. What do you see Jesus doing? He follows much the same pattern. The conquest of the land of Canaan, Jesus is going up and down and east and west. He's going all throughout Israel, wherever the sheep of the Lord are. He's sent to, as we're told earlier in John, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This is his manner. to be a peripatet, to teach as he walks. And he's constant. You look at what we have here. This is just a brief portion of what we're given in John. This man is constantly teaching. He's constantly on the move. This is why when they're going across Lake Galilee or the like, he's finding time to rest then. when there's nobody around, there's no need to teach. The men need to go and take care of the ship. They wouldn't be able to hear him while he talks, so he goes down and finds rest during that time. He secludes himself at night to commune with the father, to pray to the father, and to speak to him. This is his manner. It's not just that, there's another similar pattern. So I mentioned Moses, I'm gonna bring this other thing out about Moses. If you look at the law outside of Genesis, you look at Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, the portion that deals with the children of Israel as they're going through the wilderness, you'll see this pattern. There'll be a sin that occurs, and then there'll be law, and then sin, and then law, and then sin, and then law. What's going on? is speaking about the children of Israel while God is dwelling with them, while he's walking with them, while he's shepherding them in the wilderness. And as he's dealing with them as little children, as little sheep, they run amiss. And there's their sin. And now he brings in a law to hedge them back in. And you see this time and time and time again. Now it's interesting, this is what Jesus does. there'll be something that happens. He's speaking to the Pharisees, he's speaking to the disciples, something arises, and then he brings up a parable, and then he brings up a teaching. You can see this all throughout the Gospels, and John does this especially. And this is masterful on Christ's part, where he's using the things that they're saying, he's using the things that they're having in their life, very practical, very ground to earth, and he's centering it in the Gospel, and he's giving it to them. This is his manner, and that's why we read chapter 9, because it's connected. We could go back to chapter 8, and that's a well-known passage, right? Chapter 8, where we have the woman caught in adultery. In the very act, we're told, but where's the guy? In the very act. It's noted that they're bringing her forward to be condemned, to be stoned, and he doesn't condemn her. It says just, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. And then there's a question concerning the validity of his testimony as a person doing works and teaching. And then going from adultery to questioning his very origin. We were not born of fornication. We are children of Abraham. You see what's going on here. And then he brings out now a lesson for them. The Verilys, verily, verily, I say unto you, men keep my saying, he shall never see death. And bringing up Abraham and the prophets. And at the end of it, it says that he passes by the midst of them so as to avoid being stoned. And that's where chapter nine begins. And as Jesus passed by, he saw a blind man. So again, he's working with the disciples, he's speaking, he's teaching. And as he's going about ministering, he sees this blind man. He's a believer in God, which is why he does the miracle that he does. Because if he doesn't believe in God, he's not gonna bring his father glory. So he spits on the ground. He takes care of the part that's hurt. He commands him. He's like, okay, now go wash. And this is very much like a shepherd dealing with a wound. You see the picture that's being given here, because this is all setting up for what's gonna come later. And then he goes to the pool. He washes. He doesn't know who he was, but he heard him. He recognizes his voice. He recognizes his action, he recognizes his voice, and says, this is a godly man. He must have been a prophet. And the more that the Pharisees, you see the Pharisees probing him. The more the Pharisees probe him, the more he's like, yeah, he's, at first I was saying, I don't know whether or not he's a sinner, but you've convinced me he can't be a sinner if he was doing this miracle. In fact, he's a prophet. And then gets to the point of saying, he must be from God. And the Pharisees are having a conniption over it, because they've already told everybody, if you say Jesus is the Christ, we're excommunicating you. And this is what's going on. The man has no idea that it's Jesus. The parents suspect that it may be, and they cower in fear and say, well, he's of age, let him answer for himself. They'd rather their son be potentially excommunicated than play the man and speak truth to the Pharisees. And what happens? The Pharisees take the blind man, that sheep, Toss him out. And then what do we see at the end of chapter nine? It says, in verse 35, when Jesus heard that they cast him out, and when he had found him, he said unto him, you see what's happening here? Here's the shepherd of the sheep. He's going out and he's finding that lost lamb. He's been excommunicated from the synagogue. And when he finds him, he speaks to him, and how much of his voice he would recognize, who knows? There's all sorts of emotions going on in his life. His parents have rejected him. The religious leaders have rejected him. He's by himself. He has nothing. He's obscured, like he has a site, but no one's gonna hire him for work. He's excommunicated. Jesus comes to him and says, do you believe on the Son of God? Remember what the blind man said earlier. This is why Jesus says this. He says he came from God. He's of God. Jesus comes to him and says, do you believe on the son of God? And he says unto him, Lord, that's just kurios, that's not him saying Jehovah. And he's like, sir, sir, who is he that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, thou hast seen him. and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshiped him. The sheep reunited with the shepherd. You see the beauty that's happening here. And then you have the Pharisees that are false friends of Christ here. This isn't Nicodemus, this isn't Joseph of Arimathea. These are other Pharisees, perhaps plants sent by the Sanhedrin to trip him up. or ones that have him at a half-faith, a half-trust, and ask him the same question, are we blind? And what does he say to them? If you were blind, you should have no sin, but now you say, we see, therefore your sin remaineth. What sin was that? Not speaking up for the blind man in the excommunication. Not speaking up for him in the council. But then he begins this parable, and he says, verily, verily, I say unto you, Truly, truly, amen, amen. This is a Hebraism. It's used there to speak and say, listen to this, listen to this. It's very pointed. What I'm saying is very important. And it is true. He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. And he begins this parable now. to speak about the Pharisees, to speak about the religious leaders of the day, and not just of his day, but all those that came before, all those that will come after, to help the sheep to understand what the true shepherd looks like, and what true under-shepherds look like. And he gives this beautiful parable. And the people don't get it, but you see what's been happening here. John sets it up. John's already seen the other Gospels, but he sets it up. Here's this lost sheep You first have the woman caught in adultery Christ comes and he recollects her this blind man comes recollects him he leaves the 99 and goes after them and Now he's coming and he gives this illustration. He gives this parable It's something that they would have seen It would have been something very common to them They didn't have sheepdogs like we have, so that's not even part of the illustration, so don't have that in your minds. What they would have is they would have the pen, and they would have a sheep, which was a sheepfold, they would have a door, and the shepherd at night would bring in the sheep, the other under-shepherds would go inside as well, and the main shepherd would sit at the gate, the door of the sheepfold, and sleep there. And the idea was, for a wolf to get in, for a bear to get in, for a lion to get in, is over my dead body. And this is the illustration that he gives, if we could read it one more time. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. He pulleth them forth his own sheep. He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. He takes What was just happening with this blind man? What happened with the woman caught in adultery? And he now gives a parable. Something that they would have seen. Here's a bad actor going over the wall to steal someone's sheep. Here's someone that's shouting out, hey, hey sheep, come here. Trying to lure the sheep away from the shepherd. Things they would have seen, thieves, robbers, wicked men. But they would have seen, here's a porter, here's the one that's in charge of the door. Yeah, that's the shepherd, come on, come on, bring in the sheep. You would have noted also, the other sheep don't listen to men that are not the shepherd. They can call all they want, the sheep won't follow after them. The sheep know the voice of the one. And you can see this with the blind man and how he was dealing with the Pharisees. Why does he not just drink the Kool-Aid? Why does he not just say, okay, you must be right? Because the voice that they're giving is not the voice of scripture. He remembers he was blind and yet he could sit in the synagogue and hear the word of God read to him. And he hears it, he hears the word of God being read concerning the shepherds of all, of Abel, of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of all the brethren. He hears about the atrocities that happened with David. He hears about the goodness of David and what he did for Meshivah, what he almost did to Nabal the fool. He hears all these things and it's all wrapping up in his head. He remembers the psalms that he would sing. He would have sung Psalm 23, Psalm 100. He had all 150 at this point. All those shepherding psalms, Psalm 80 that we sang and had exposited in the morning. All these things would be in his head. Including the works done. Think of Moses. He's sent out and commissioned by God what is given to him. Two signs. One is through your staff down it, it will become a snake, you pick it up by the tail and it becomes a rod again. The other one was leprosy. He said if your elders don't believe you, put your hand in your bosom, pull it out, it'll be leprous, put it back in, it's whole again. Two signs given. Signs to authenticate the work and ministry of Moses before the people of God. He understands this, he remembers Elijah and all the works that he did. between the people that come out carmel, to the healing of people, to the raising of the dead. He remembers Elisha asking for a double portion of the blessing and the double amount of things that were done with him. All the signs and wonders that were done by the godly prophets. He remembers the wicked prophets spoken of in Ezekiel 34, that would fleece the flock, that would eat them up, would drinken them, They would take advantage of them. He remembers how Jeremiah was mistreated by false shepherds, and how again, and again, and again, the Lord comes to Jeremiah and says, don't fear them, I did not send them. They're not speaking my words. They're not speaking the gospel. And he has all of this rattling in his head. And so when he hears the voice of the Pharisees, he's like, something's not right here. That's not the voice that I recognize. But then when Jesus speaks to him, he recognizes that voice and he gladly goes to him. This is the manner of Jesus. Isn't it beautiful? We could learn a little bit more from this, couldn't we? If we had ministers that were more active in the community, doing something like that, that doesn't mean that everybody in the church just follows him around everywhere, that's not what I'm saying. But to actively engage in that sort of thing, to take things that are happening in day-to-day life and say, this right here is like what is going on over here. To give a parable of explanation, to explain to people, to be constantly working with the people, seeking out the sheep of the Lord. the lost sheep. Now Calvin on this passage notes concerning the lost sheep and saying that all the Lord's sheep in election are his. It's just a matter of in time and providence learning that we are one of his sheep. He speaks to this. And so this is the manner of Christ. His manner was to be a peripatet, his manner was to go out and seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel and even some Gentiles that were coming in. His manner, as well, was, as he was actively engaged with the people, to use their sins and failures to properly instruct them through preaching, through parables, and other instruction. And that's a good example for us, is it not, beloved? This was the manner of Jesus. I'm not gonna exposit, like as I said, I'm not gonna exposit the parable because Jesus does that for us in the next section. This is his manner. You see how loving he is. You see how caring he is. Some people will say, and maybe you're one of them if you're sitting here in unbelief, I'd be a Christian if it wasn't for the Christians. Jesus sounds great, but the rest of the sheep are terrible. That's your answer. Look to the shepherd. Look to the shepherd, the sheep at times are bad. The sheep at times do not follow the shepherd as they ought. They get into trouble and that's when they cry out for him to come and get him back. Look to the shepherd and that's what we need to say to them. And perhaps we can do that this afternoon. We may come up against that. You knock on the door and someone starts talking about how wicked a Christian is at their workplace. It's like, okay, that's a wicked Christian, granted. Look to the shepherd. Don't look to the sheep that are misbehaving. Look to the shepherd, look to the shepherd, look to the shepherd. We have to make sure that the voice that we're giving concerning the shepherd is the true one. I think we all saw on TV the false voice of that false prophetess speaking about mercy. Now, there's nothing wrong with speaking about mercy. Mercy has its proper place. But mercy and truth meet and kiss mutually. And where mercy is requested, there must be a desire for a change of heart. Can you imagine a murderer, say Dahmer, asking for mercy with no intention of changing his ways, only to go out, commit homosexuality and murders and more? You'd be like, that judge is crazy to grant mercy to that person. In fact, it is no mercy. It's actually judgment on the people by releasing such a one. And so it is. When someone cries out for mercy, they better mean that they're repenting of their sins. If they're not, it's just a sham. It's a misdirect. It's a red herring. So can we ask for mercy? Yes. But it must be with intention of change of heart, of change of behavior, of such that refuse to change. No mercy can be granted. Secondly, the meaning of the shepherd. So looking at the heart of what Christ is talking about here. He said a lot of things, and now he's going to impact them for us. And he does so in a loving way. Verse seven, then said Jesus unto them, again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door, by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but to forage or steal and to kill and destroy. I am come, that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. The wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As my father know me, even so know I them, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also must I bring in, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." The meaning of the shepherd in the parable that he gave. We see first that what he is in distinction to those who oppose him. He gives two illustrations and some people get confused about this and what he's doing. He is both the door and he is the good shepherd. He is the door and the good shepherd. And if you look at verse 2, in the Greek, that article is not there. The definite article, the, in the Greek is not there. It actually says, but he that entereth in by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. He's doing that to speak in contrast to the Pharisees. He's also doing that to reassure the people the prophets that came before him were true under-shepherds. This is what he's doing. So many times we'll come to this passage, and you've probably heard ministers preach it, speaking about those coming in, that that's talking about sheep. Well, true enough, an under-shepherd is a sheep. But it's not talking about all sheep, as in everybody in the congregation. It's speaking particularly here about those that are ministers. And this is what he's doing to contrast, make a distinction between those that oppose him. He says that he is the door. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Now he's bringing in, it's not just true for the under shepherds that I have, but it's true of the sheep. Okay, so this is an argument of the greater to the lesser. If it's true of the shepherd, then it's true of the sheep as well. If it's true of those that lead, then it should be true of the followers. It's a logical deduction that we can make. And rightly so. I am the door. By me, if any man enter, he shall be saved. The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. He is the door. He is the gatekeeper. You hear this a lot in reform circles. I don't like certain ministers because they're gatekeepers. I don't like gatekeepers. Gatekeepers is our good thing. Christ is a gatekeeper. Christ is the one that sends ministers. Christ is the one that determines who goes into the ministry, and who has offices, and who has gifts, and who has graces. And anybody that kicks out back and saying gatekeeper, gatekeeper, gatekeeper, is one that's one of these robbers, these thieves that are being addressed here. They don't like the gatekeeper because they want to go in and take out the flock. And that's important for us to understand. How can you recognize someone that's a thief and a robber? They disparage the idea of any gatekeeping whatsoever. Now, there are unlawful gatekeepers, right? You've probably had that at work, where you're trying to advance in a job, in a profession, and there's somebody that's wicked and doesn't like you and just, no, no. We see that with DEI hiring, that's bad gatekeeping. But we shouldn't be against gatekeeping altogether. There's lawful gatekeeping. And Christ, when he speaks of that, we have that in the Old Testament. You could look at it in Exodus 19 with Jethro giving to Moses certain wisdom. This is what your civil magistrates should look like. And if this is true of civil magistrates, it better be true of those that are ruling spiritually. And Paul takes that, what Jethro says, if you look at that in Exodus 19, and he extrapolates it into 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. and says, here's the elders. They cannot be greedy and filthy lucre. They need to have a good reputation without. They need to be blameless. You know, you begin with blameless and then everything else coalesces underneath it. It's like the fruit of the spirit is love. Love is the fruit of the spirit. And for the fruit to be a whole fruit, you have to have all these other things, patience, love, suffering, kindness, mercy, all these things. And so it is. To be truly blameless, to be an office bearer, you need to have all this. If you're not apt to teach, both in the sense of able to study and able to take correction, you're not called to the ministry. You're not blameless, right? And so any of those things, you can take it and say, well, I'm everything but this. I'm everything, but I'm a brawler. Okay, you're not called to the ministry. You're not blameless. You are disqualified. This is how Jesus gatekeeps. He is the door. He does not let people in who should not be in. And that doesn't mean that church courts don't make errors. They do at times. We see how many of the prophets were slain by the church in times past. But there's still the gatekeeping of Christ. And I maintain to you, those that hate gatekeeping, Do not fulfill the qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3. You could go through it line by line, and they'll mess up on one, two, or many. Moving on, he's also the shepherd. He is the leader and protector of his sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. What we said before, over my dead body. He makes sure that the sheep are led, that they're protected. Now, what his opposition is distinguished from him. If he is a door, then his opposition are thieves and robbers. They have no desire but to come and steal, kill, devour. It's all self-seeking, all self-serving. We see this of them. and they won't use the means provided by God. There will always be some statement. Remember, he's talking here about shepherds, not necessarily of sheep. You might think to yourself of Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress. He brings this out in the first part in the third section, where you have these two men that Christian sees, and they climb over the wall. They don't go in the way. They climb over the wall, and they plop down, and their name is Formalist, and hypocrisy. And what did they say to him? We got over by our own laws that we made ourself. That's for you guys, but this is too hard for us, and people were keeping us out, so we went in our own way. And you'll see this in men that are not called to the ministry. All of a sudden, the Extraordinary Clause fits them. All of a sudden, it applies to them. All of a sudden, they can shepherd their one family in their own house. That's not how it is. If they climb over the wall, they don't go in by the gate. And Christ is quite clear that doing this is actually disrupting his shepherds. It's not where salvation is found. It's very dangerous to climb over the wall and act like a shepherd. It's a very dangerous thing. You notice the land that Bunyan says these men came from. So these are guys that are not acting like shepherds, but acting like sheep. or claiming to be sheep, but it fits those that would claim to be ministers. Formalists and hypocrisy are from the land of vainglory. You see that in these men, whether it's on YouTube with their podcast or another place with the podcast or whatever, it's the land of vainglory that they're from. It's self-serving, it's self-seeking. They're thieves and robbers. They're also not shepherds. They're often hirelings. They're in it because they're grifters They're in it for the money buy my merch right how many times have you seen that? It's like you're watching a YouTube thing and then all of a sudden there's an ad it's like What's the purpose of this? Well? It's it's about the monetization you see this in Christians at times. It's like buy my merch. Here's my hat here's my There's no need for this. I mean, it's great. It's like, it'd be cool to have a bumper sticker or whatever, but verbose advertising is just ridiculous. It's like, find it on the webpage or whatever. But a lot of people, they found out, hey, I can get monetization from YouTube, and I can sell a shirt that has my name or logo on it, and I'm making 15 bucks a hit. These are hirelings. These are hirelings. They don't care for the flock. They just care about the paycheck. Men that care more about going to different churches to preach so that they can get a paycheck are hirelings. Men that will only preach when it serves them are hirelings. And this is a dangerous thing. The hireling only cares about his bank. He cares about padding his wallet. And so when trouble does come, he flees, right? And you can see this in false shepherds. When trouble comes in the form of correction, they flee. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. Or when they're lawfully brought against, they come. It's like, oh, things are getting tough. Time to leave. That's the manner of the hireling. And that's not what we do. And then we're told what happens. When someone is set up on a post and they fail to do what they're supposed to do, what happens? But if you have someone, you tell them, OK, I want you to watch my sheep. I'm going to be gone for a week. I want you to watch my sheep, my goats, my chickens. Take care of them. And they're doing stuff and whatnot. And then they hear a growl. They turn around. It's a big black bear. And they're like, later. And they run away. What's going to happen to all the sheep and goats now and the chickens? They're going to be destroyed and eviscerated. It's just all gone. And that's what happens with ministers that are just hirelings. Lockdowns happen. Oh, we better cave. How many souls were destroyed over that? Heresies come in. Oh, I don't want to sound bad. I don't want to sound like I, you know, I don't want the tomb police to come after me. So I'll just keep my mouth shut. And then the heresy comes in and you wonder why it's taken out half the church. It's the hireling. He cares more about his own skin than about the souls of the flock he's supposed to take care of. These are things to look out for. Christ speaks the meaning of this parable. Here's the flock, here are the under shepherds, here's false under shepherds and their thieves, robbers, or hirelings. So you have some, keep this in mind, you have some that have no qualification whatsoever, they're disqualified, they haven't gone through the process. You have others that have gone through the process, but they're only in it for the money. They're only in it for themselves. They're not in it for the glory of God. They're not in it for the salvation of souls. This is why when ministers receive ordination, they're asked, what is your chief purpose? Is it the saving of souls? And if it isn't, they have no business ministering. If the reason why they're getting into the ministry is to have their own little kingdom, their own little fiefdom, it's best for them to go back home and become a metallurgist and weld or whatever. It's better for them not to get into the ministry. It's a sad thing. But there's another thing that he notes. What he brings as opposed to the opposition. What takes what is it that he is bringing we see this in the second half of verse 10 why he has come I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more Abundantly, so it's not just that he's a door as a gatekeeper It's not just that he's a shepherd is one that takes them in and out what he grants them what he brings them that the opposition doesn't bring them and whether it's a thief and a robber or is a hireling, is life and life more abundantly. And brothers and sisters in Christ, this is your savior. This is your shepherd who gives to you life abundantly. And so it is that the minister that you should use should be one that will point you to Christ, that will show life and life abundantly. not some spin, not some new fad, but rather point you to Christ, point you to His direction, point you to the life that He offers. We speak of first things first, and that's what's necessary. We must speak the gospel first. The gospel must be foundational. If it isn't, then we have no ministry. Yes, we should talk about things as they come up in the church, as the spirit brings up errors and heresies in the Lord's providence, as we might have in a pocket here, or Greenville might have in a pocket over there, a certain thing creeping up in the society that a minister must go out and open air preach against, whether it's a resurgence of abortion, where there's a resurgence of some other sin that he's called upon to go out and destroy that wolf so it doesn't come in against the flock, to protect the flock, to protect the people of God, the elect even, so that they may fear and turn from their sins and unto Christ. But it always must be with the foundation of the gospel. The gospel is what brings life. It's not secondary matters. Dealing with secondary doctrines is not what brings about salvation. The primary doctrine of the gospel is what is that brings in life abundantly. To speak to people and say, here is your sin, here is the gospel, but leave on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And there are some things that people are calling sins that are no sins at all, which must make you question what then is the gospel. the meaning of the shepherd. Christ demonstrates it. He speaks of it about the shepherds and under shepherds. He confirms the ministry of the prophets that came before. He says, though, those that came before me are thieves and robbers. Who's he talking about? He's talking about the Sanhedrin. You realize that since Judas Maccabeus forward, you did not have Levites as the ones that were in charge. of the ministry. Paul mentions that he's a Pharisee. He was being groomed to become part of the Sanhedrin. What's a Benjaminite doing in the religious sphere where the Levites are supposed to be? The high priest was a yearly elected office and it was run by the Sadducees who didn't believe in the resurrection. And these guys were not of the lineage of Levi. This is what Christ is meaning. A lot of times, though, what we saw in the text, they point back to Moses. We are Moses' disciples. Sometimes you'll read that the Pharisees came from Ezra, with Ezra reestablishing things concerning the ceremony of Caldas, the scribalisms, and all that stuff. It's interesting that they don't mention Ezra. They mention Moses. We're Moses' disciples. Well, if you were, then you would have listened to Jesus, because he's that prophet that was greater. You should have been looking for that prophet that was greater. You remember 30 years earlier when Herod asked you, where's the Christ gonna be born, what's the circumstance of his birth, and what the time is when the Magi came? They could give him the answers, but they didn't bother to go and find him. Interesting. All the data, but none of the desire. And Christ comes and he explains these things to them. He extrapolates to them. Here's the parable and here's the meaning of it. all the intricacies of it. He fulfills it and says, it's not just these that I give life to. He says also, other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them also I must bring in and they shall hear my voice and they shall be one fold and one shepherd. He's speaking of the Gentiles coming in. This isn't the Book of Mormon nonsense. Right? You often hear that if you watch TV or you see YouTube ad for Mormonism, you often will see that, you know, another testimony or what Testament of Jesus Christ. It's ridiculous. This idea that Jesus came over to the native Americans so that you're the lost tribes, blah, blah, blah. Ridiculous. This isn't what he's saying. He is letting them know ahead of time, there's going to be one fold, not two folds. It's not, there's the fold of Israel and there's the fold of the church. Here's plan A and here's plan B, like the dispensationalists like to teach. No, there's one fold. And that's why when we speak of the fullness of the Gentiles coming in and the regrafting of Israel in, the stock that they're being regrafted in per Romans 11 is Abraham. We are the sons of Abraham as well, per Galatians, spiritually speaking, and they need to be regrafted into Abraham. Just being genetically part of Abraham does you no good. There must be that spiritual link. And so here, Christ notes, and he's nearing the end of his life, and I should have noted this earlier. John, as he's giving his gospel, the majority of his gospel is dealing with the last few months of Jesus's life. And what we find here in this passage in chapter nine and 10, is it is right in between where we had in chapter seven, verse two, Jesus over at the Feast of Tabernacles, which would have been the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, to the Passover, which occurs in 1155. So chapter seven and chapter 11, you have Tabernacle, and you have Passover, and this is right in the middle of it. A little later in the chapter, in verse 22, you have the Feast of Dedication, which is likely Herod's dedication of the temple, and not the Feast of Lights. It's interesting that Josephus, when he speaks in his day of it, doesn't call it Hanukkah. He calls it the Feast of Lights. But here John calls it the dedication. Earlier, when people are showing Jesus the temple, they refer to Herod's temple. I think John's being consistent. I think he's referring to the dedication date that Herod made the same time as the Feast of Lights to counter that when he started to rebuild the temple. We see the manner of the Christ, the meaning of the shepherd, and finally the measure of the shepherd in 17 and 18. Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. What is the measure of a man? Perhaps you've heard that phrase before. It's speaking of his integrity. It speaks of what truly he is at his core. Now you look at what he has said already. In contrast, you had thieves and robbers. They're self-seeking, they're self-gratifying. They take the flock and do with them what they will for their own benefit. And then you have the hireling. He's also self-seeking, self-satisfying. But rather than just take the flock and does what we will with them, he leaves when the leaving is good. We'll make sure that his bank account is settled. We'll make sure that everything is straight for him. And he looks out for his own skin and moves along. But what is the measure of the great shepherd? The measure of the great shepherd is this, that he is not self-seeking. He's not self-seeking. He is willing to sacrifice himself for the sheep. I mentioned earlier that idea of the shepherd being in the doorway. What we see in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He says to the wolf, he says to the robber, he says to the thief, over my dead body are you coming into this fold. Ezekiel 34, which is well known to us, speaks of how wicked the shepherds were of Israel in time past. The wicked shepherds that would take them and use them. He says, behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not make meat for them. And goes over and speaks of the cruelty of the shepherds to not care for the sheep, but to care for themselves. That's the measure of one that is not a true shepherd. What is the measure of the true shepherd? To care for the sheep, to love the sheep, to seek them out. That same chapter in verse 23, and I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David. He shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David, a prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken it. Christ is that shepherd. He gives his life for the sheep. And that is a wonderful thing. The hireling won't do it. The thief and the robber won't do it. In fact, they'll kill the sheep instead. But the great shepherd, the measure of him is that he is giving of his life. Now we, as husbands, have some of what of a relation to this. Where Paul in Ephesians will come to the husband and says, I speak in a mystery. that you are to love your wives as Christ loved the church, that he gave his life for it. It's self-sacrificing. He's not talking about the doormat husband. He's talking about a husband that so loves his wife, he will die for her to make sure that she is still alive, to make sure that she has what she needs, to make sure that she's protected, to make sure that she's cared for. And beloved, this is our heavenly husband. He so loved us that he gave his life for us. He gave his life for you. You that are His. Is that not a wonder? This is the measure of the shepherd. We can look at men today and we can pick them apart. We can say, well, there's this error in them, there's this error. Even the best of men, there's errors in them. No men are perfect. And yet we can come to Christ and there is no blemish in Him. We see this in Song of Solomon, do we not? How much the bride speaks of the beauty of the husband. And it's true, it's absolutely true. The measure of Christ is one of not self-interest, but in the interest of his people, of his flock, of his children. So when John, and again, John's writing probably the gospel, his epistles, and revelation later in his life, probably within a decade of itself. When he says to the lady, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the faith. Where do you think he got that from? He got that from Christ. Christ, the great shepherd, the measure of him saying, I have no greater joy than to hear that my sheep are not going astray. That they're happy, in the pasture I provided for them, they're nestling beside the still water, that they're not trying to run off into the crag of the rocks and run after the wolf and run after the hireling. I have no greater joy than to hear that they come in and out of the fold and have peace and tranquility. That they come up and they love their shepherd, they don't trample him to death. That they care for him, that he cares for them. no greater joy. We see the measure of this great shepherd. And what a contrast it is. This is what Christ has already dealt with in the other gospels. John doesn't mention it, but we see it in Luke and Matthew. When people come to Christ, think of the young rich man. He says, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. This is the measure of Christ, that he was so willing to sacrifice his life, not just on the cross, but the entirety of him leaning up to that, that he was fine with not having a home, a stationary fixed place. You can think about it. If you're doing the ministry, whether you're an elder or a deacon or a father, isn't having a home a nice thing? That's something you can go back to. It's like, well, even if I'm having to travel 50 miles, 100 miles to go to work or do whatever, at least having a home base is nice. My own bed, the warmth, all of that. Christ didn't have that. His self-sacrifice was such in the estate of his humiliation that he would rather care for the people night and day, day and night. suffering the affliction of the elements, than to make sure that he was at the Motel 6 every night, to make sure that he was where the five stars were every night, to make sure that he was satisfied and that he had his body nourished and taken care of every night. And this is our Christ. This is the measure of this great shepherd. who so love us that he lays his life down. But notice also, he brings in the fact that his father loves him for it. He's received this commandment from the father. And Christ, as the great shepherd of the church, as the king of the church, because he's receiving commandment from the father, he gives that commandment to the church. to do the same, to be self-sacrificing, to be ones that seek out the good of the sheep and not their own good. And the father loves the son for it. That means the father does not love the thief and the robber and the hireling. He has no patience for them. He has no love for them, why? Because they don't love him and his commandment. But Christ, His measure is that he has the love of the Father. Again, the Pharisees, they prided themselves, we're disciples of Moses. We're of the stock of Abraham. And Christ turns around and says, you're of your father, the devil. He says, if you were true disciples of Moses, you would listen to me. You come and ask me who I'm doing all these things under, whose authority, whose commandment, I'll ask you this. John the baptizer, was he of God or of men? He puts them to test, he asks them, and they will not listen. You see this at the very end of the chapter. This is the end of that section where it's dealing with this. And it says, many resorted unto him and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true. What is the first thing that we hear from the lips of John when he sees Jesus? Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. What is it that John says first about Jesus? There's one coming that's greater than I, whose shoelace should I not worthy to unbuckle. This is the measure of Christ, the measure of his self-sacrifice, the measure of his holiness, the measure of his love for his people. And I put to you, and it's true, beloved, there's not a minister alive on this earth that has the same love that Christ has for his flock. Every minister will fail. All of us will fail in that respect. But there's still Christ. This is his measure, a measure of perfection in his shepherding, the wisdom that he offers. I hope those of you that do struggle with following Christ might have seen this morning and this afternoon a bit more concerning that great shepherd of the sheep, more of the love that he has for his flock, to dispel any arguments that you might have in your head concerning if it's worth following Christ. Should you follow Christ? Does he really love me? You may be struggling with such things, having assurance. Understand, beloved, he seeks out his sheep. If you're struggling, you hear his nagging voice, it's because he's calling out to you. And you need to run to that shepherd, the shepherd of your souls. So with this Lord's help, we have looked at the manner, the meaning and the measure of this great shepherd. I'll stand and look to the Lord in prayer. Gracious Lord and Heavenly Father, we do thank you so much for thy word. We thank Thee that there is a shepherd that we can look up to when men fail. We thank Thee that there were other under-shepherds that came before Christ and have come after Him that are godly, that were godly, that sought Your kingdom and righteousness, for sought to preach the gospel despite being afflicted by men. O Lord, I do pray that You might cause those that are acting as thieves and robbers and hirelings to repent, that they may consider their ways and return back to sense. Help those that are true under shepherds that do hear the voice of Christ and seek to do his holy will to not become such that are hirelings or thieves and robbers. And help your flock to submissively follow after them even as we read in Hebrews 13. to submit to the elders that are put over you, for it is good for your souls to do so. It is a benefit to us to follow the godly undershepherds that are speaking the words of Christ. We thank you that we have Christ as our example that we can look to, that great shepherd of the sheep. We thank you that in thy good wisdom and providence, in the fullness of time, thou sent forth thy son. born of woman under the law to die the cruel death of the cross his blood being made effectual for the sins of his people and that you raised him up the third day because you loved him because he is the great shepherd that laid down his life for the sheep help us to be satisfied with this and to love him the more for it and pray this in his name of our elder brother our great shepherd of our souls our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen