Well, congregation, to our scriptures this morning, if I might invite us first to turn to the book of John, we'll start there, John chapter 10. We'll read again these verses in John 10, which reflect so well Isaiah chapter 53. Our text in a moment will be in Isaiah chapter 53, verse six, but first then to John chapter 10, The Lord is addressing these matters. Of the significance of his atonement. Of his work for and on behalf of. His sheep. Being sent by his father. So John chapter 10 will pick up at verse 11 again will read through verse 18. He says. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not a shepherd who owns the sheep, so when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he has a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me. Just as the father knows me and I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen, I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my father loves me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down to my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my father. In congregation, we go back both in time and in our Bibles to Isaiah chapter 53 to find out why Jesus uses that particular word to describe us. Sheep. So to verse six, Isaiah 53, and this will be our attention and focus with help from John 10, to Isaiah 53 at verse six. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Let's follow your congregation, the glorious and very helpful word of the living God. Let's ask his help in prayer this morning, shall we? Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we are so thankful for the marvelous word which looms our hearts by the spirit so that we know truth. And Father, this is of course the need of every generation of the church in all its ages and time, and so it is our need To know truth. Well, Heavenly Father, help us to be experts in the truth, to be convinced about it, to know it, to love it, so that we may find that great help which we have in Jesus Christ as we face the truth of who we are. And so help us, Lord, not to turn away from these things by your spirit, but to receive them as sanctifying truth we ask in Jesus' name, amen. So the congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, you walk into the room, into the class, because you've been told ahead of time by the professor that it's test day. And so you sit for your Bible exam. We're old school, so we take our number two pencils out, we sharpened two or three of them because we thought, well, the exam's gonna be long, and we set them down in front of us, those sharp, Pencils, because we're gonna go long. We receive the paper from the professor and we unfold it and we look at it, expecting a number of questions there for us to consider and answer properly in our Bible exam. But there is there only one question. And it's this. Why did Jesus have to die? What do you write? Well, since we listened carefully last week, we can at least begin to answer that question properly, can't we? And so we take out our first of our number two pencils and we begin writing in our paper that it was the will of the Father. Isaiah 53, verse 10. John chapter 10, Jesus' words, verse 18. It was the will of the Father. This command I received from my Father. We write these things down on our paper, Think staring out the window. Surely there's more to say. There is. There's us. Why did Jesus have to die? Well, because Isaiah 53 verse 6 we all like sheep have gone astray. We each have turned to our own way. Why did Jesus have to die? Because we are like sheep. The need for Christ's atonement is found in the nature of sheep. The need for Christ's atonement is found in the nature of sheep. Who are we? What are we like? Well, first of all, people are like sheep who go their own way. And so we're noticing, beloved, a clear connection between Isaiah 53 and John 10, just like we did last week in a different category. We said it last week about the connection between Isaiah 53 and John 10, that there's this unified sense that it was the will of the Father that Jesus go to the cross. We said that, we found it in the text, and it was very helpful, I think, in that way. But again, here, the narrator, Isaiah 53, the prophet, includes himself now. As he addresses verse 6 sheep and going. Astray, he says now corporately. Look at this, we all. Speaking to the church. Speaking to Christians speaking to the elect, however you want to quantify it, we all like sheep. I've gone astray. Jesus in John chapter 10 verse 11 says he lays down his life for. The sheep. And so one of the connecting ideas and truths crossing the centuries from Isaiah's day to Jesus is sheep. It's in Isaiah chapter 53 verse six, sheep. It's in John chapter 10, sheep. Jesus lays down his life, more on that in our next sermon, pointedly lays down his life for his sheep. For humans. Now this seems very obvious, but let's just blurt it out. Sheep here are humans. People. Men and women, girls and boys. Humans go ways, they do things that God says is wrong. They are iniquitous. Isaiah 53, six, sinners. The first thing then, and this is very basic, but we need to get this right. We are sheep. Jesus needs to lay down his life because of us. Now, beloved, when we come to a text, when we come desiring to know from the scriptures what it is that God says, we realize that we do as Christian people with a mind and a view of things determined by the scripture. But we also, and we need to say this regularly, we do so amidst a culture that is saying no, no about all of these things that we say are truth. The culture is saying no about we being sheep, and they are saying that in very violent ways. I'm saying this because we need to understand how our minds are impacted by the culture in which we are today living. Can we say it very bluntly? People do not agree with Jesus. Now, I've never seen a protest on the streets of people holding up signs saying, Jesus was wrong, I'm not a sheep. With those exact words, they haven't done that. But it is exactly what people are saying. They absolutely reject that they are sheep. We're going to develop, you see, a theology of sheepness in a moment so that we'll know more about what we're talking, but you already have the opportunity to disagree or agree with what I've just said about the culture in which we live, the ethic of our day. So ask yourself the question this morning. Stop right here and consider this. Would you say, would you agree or disagree That there is a general acceptance, a general acceptance of what God's Word here makes very clear. We all like sheep. We have gone astray. We've each turned to our own way. Do people agree with that or not today? You see, there's something afoot in our culture and the ethic of the day. It's the rise of the self. The radical me, myself, I, the new unholy trinity of our day. All of that is the violent throwing off of God's definition of humans as sheep. And here's the most serious danger about that radical throwing off of God's definition of humans as sheep. You see, the thing is this, that all of those who say about themselves they are not sheep, they can determine themselves what they want to be and who they are, for them there is no shepherd, you see, who dies for them. Do we see the seriousness of that? For all of those caught up in the tidal wave of me-ism, I am proud of who I say I am. There is no good shepherd for them. Because they say, I'm not a sheep. And so it is, beloved, that we need to consider we all, like sheep, have gone astray. Well then secondly, Adam was the first to go astray, but he had help. What is it which according to God defines sheep? What's a substantive consideration of the term sheep? If you turn to the definition in the old dictionary about sheep, it'll give you all kinds of words and they'll describe the animal and what it's like and how it feeds and its birth and process of life and death and all of that. Fine, how does God define sheep? They go astray. But another way, Isaiah 53, six, they sheep turn to their own ways. Well, that's what it means to go astray. It's sort of like a poetic structure. They go their own way, they turn astray, same thing. They do what they want. In that, Adam was patient zero. The first sheep, well, that is the Adam who listened to Eve, as Paul puts it in 1 Timothy 2.14, I'll let you look that up later. But Adam, as our federal head, our representative, was sheep zero, the first one. So Adam wasn't top dog, he was chief sheep. But in being sheep number one, the first to go astray, contrary to God's directive, Adam, Had help. And here's. Where we find the immediate connection to our society and culture today and the immediate connection to every time we sin, that is, we have the same kind of help. I use that in quotes that Adam. Had. And the help that Adam received in becoming a sheep. Was words. Words that went like this. Did God really say? Oh. Hmm. Swerve. Swerve to the right. Swerve. Swerve to the left. That was my right and my left. Your right and your left is opposite. Of course, you understand the idea here. Did God really say leads to the going astray. The echoes of that, the voice of the tempter, the liar, Satan, are loudly echoed today. They really are at the heart of each and every sheep's choice to be a sheep. This act, going astray, has led to the vast brokenness that we see in the world today with a thousand different ideas about what is good and bad, right and wrong, lovely and ugly, loving and helpful. So the going astray defines humanity. The picture of humanity then becomes very dark and wicked. sort of the opposite of what you'd expect when you pick up the kaleidoscope, if you had one of those when you were a kid, and you looked through the eyepiece of the kaleidoscope toward a bright window, you expected, when you looked through it, to see, with all of the broken pieces, beautiful colors and shapes, and you wanted to see the glory of the beauty of those colors against the light. But the picture of humanity is a kaleidoscope that, when you put it to your eye, everything is broken, yes, but dark and scary, and you want to pull it away from your eye as quickly as you can. That's where we're at today. Because society is saying there isn't one truth anymore. You see, what we're considering, beloved, is what the Word of God says here. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Why did Jesus need to die? Well, because sheep go astray. That's who we are. That's what we do. Is there one truth today? Well, if you ask Hindus and Buddhists and Muslims, they will say no. There's not just one truth. You Christians can't lay claim to the only truth. We have our own truth. And so humans go astray. Is the work done by Jesus Christ settled? Is it enough? Is it complete? We say yes. Roman Catholics say no. Well, pastor, did you just say that? The Roman Catholics say, no, the work of Jesus Christ isn't settled. That's exactly what they say, which is why they have to go to the daily mass every day, as the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us in question and answer 80. And so what they do is they deny the central set completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there one truth, beloved? When we begin to realize that the people who we are living amongst and around are saying there isn't one truth, it gives us reason to understand how they're going astray in such wild ways. Has God said it is good to kill our unborn babies? No, we say, but the world says yes, and so they go astray. Has God said it's good for a man to marry a man? No, we say, because the scriptures say. The world says, yes, it's great, and so they go astray. Is it good for a woman who is born a female to say she is rather a man? No, it's not, we say. The scripture makes it clear. But the world says, yes, it's fine, and so they go astray. Beloved sheep is what we're looking at, who need a savior. who need a good shepherd. And all of these as illustrations, all of these as examples, give to us every reason of confidence we need to be able to preach the gospel in this setting and speak about it at work and with our neighbors and our friends and our coworkers and say, listen, there is one truth. We are sheep. What you're doing, like what I do when I sin, is called going astray. You're being iniquitous. You're turning to your own way. And if you're not found hid in Jesus Christ, your own way will lead to hell when you die. Now, thirdly, by Isaiah's day, largely from the Psalms, sheep are strayers into sin. The word Isaiah employs, uses about sheep, they go astray, as a way to define sin, takes time to develop in the Bible. That is to say, when you begin to look in the scriptures for the word sheep and what it means, it doesn't initially mean the same thing it means here, it takes time to develop. But let me give you a couple scripture references. Jot these down, you can look them up later. Numbers, Numbers 27, 17. Deuteronomy 22, verse one, and 1 Kings 22, 17. If you want some help, you can look those up later. Numbers 27, 17, Deuteronomy 22, verse one, 1 Kings 22, 17, which all speak of sheep needing a shepherd, and Israel is the sheep in each of those places. And so what we see beginning to develop in the scripture is a definition of sheepness. In the Psalms, the issue comes to its high point. The issue of sin and the consequences of sin become explicit and the word sheep is beginning to be used now very concretely. Psalm 49 verse 14, like sheep, they are destined for the grave. Now there's a sobering one. Go up to somebody as you're meeting with them in the marketplace, if you're meeting them in your neighborhood and say to them, do you know that you're a sheep destined for the grave? Probably not gonna be very happy at you initially, but I guarantee you it'll get them thinking. And you can even say, well, Psalm 49 verse 14 says that like sheep, you're destined for the grave. Or maybe we can make it our own claim. Psalm 119 verse 176. The very last verse of that long Psalm says this. I have strayed like a lost sheep. Will we say that this week of preparatory? I have strayed like a lost sheep. So that what we're seeing is that sheep are those who are defined by needing rescue, who need to be led, who need a shepherd who is going to give himself for them. Jesus says about the hired hand, he's not the one. All the false religions, all the false teachers, all the false shepherds, when they see the trouble coming, they're gonna drop the responsibility reins and run. Why? Because they don't love the sheep. And the sheep need one who love them. They need to be kept safe from all harm. Psalm 78 verse 52. He brought his people out like a flock. He led them like sheep through the desert. As David was shepherd to Israel, so the Lord Jesus, Psalm 23 is the perfect shepherd for we sheep. It's why it's the most requested Psalm when it comes to funerals. Oh, Pastor, at my loved one's funeral, would you please preach Psalm 23? Why? I don't ask the question, but that's the question. Why do you want Psalm 23? Because it speaks about the shepherd who loves the sheep. And my loved one was a sheep who needed a shepherd. Isn't that true about us, beloved? So if we sign on to, pick out your pencil again and sign on the dotted line or better sign it in blood. I sign on to being a sheep. I agree with sheepness. Then we know what is required, don't we? We know what we need. We must have, you and I, we must have a shepherd who loves the sheep. Why did Jesus have to die? Because of me. because of you. Do we understand? Isaiah 53 v. 6 has me in its sights. It has you in its sights. We all, like sheep have gone astray. I've turned to my own way, we would say about ourselves with Isaiah 53.6. We have gone astray. Dear church, why did Jesus have to die? Last week when we consider that question, I said, well, here's a good answer you could give to people when they come up and ask you that you could say, well. It was the father's will. That's a good answer. Now we can add to that answer. We could say. Because I'm like a sheep. I am. Do you say me? Why did Jesus have to die me? I am why he had to die. I am a sheep who goes astray. Now beloved, we stress that and we stress that and we stress that because we need to hear the rest of the verse. Here's the problem of our culture. Here's the problem in many churches. There is no value in the last part of verse 6 because the first part of verse 6 is not understood. Do you see it? Unless we can say, I'm a sheep. I go astray. I've turned to my own way. We will not see in any way the necessity for saying, yes, it's true. I am iniquitous. I had iniquities. I am sinful. I needed my sins to be laid on Him. My sins to be laid on Him. Why does Jesus say in John 10, I lay down my life for the sheep? because of what we have right here in verse six of Isaiah 53. I am iniquitous. I am a sinner. If we don't say that, we cannot then have any hope or joy or peace about the rest of it. And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. He laid down his life because we curse. Did you curse this past week? And you know what I mean by that word. He laid down his life because we are greedy and selfish and lustful. Those true of you this past week, you know what that means. He laid down his life because we lie, we cheat, we steal. Were any of those things true about you this week? And you know what it means. Don't pretend like we don't. He laid down His life because we desecrate the Lord's Day, because we don't honor Father and Mother as we should, because we are constantly worshiping this other idol or that other idol, that purpose, that goal, that dream, that issue of our life that's outside of the Word of God. Is that true about us? Do we say, I was like a sheep this week. I went astray. The catechism asks the penetrating question, in the very beginning of the catechism, it asks about the law, can you live up to all of this perfectly? Can you escape the definition of sheepness? Can you, can you? No. In fact, as the catechism says, I have a natural tendency, I am prone to hate God and my neighbor. We are sheep who go astray. This week of preparatory, beloved, among the other things that we need to consider, we need to consider that. I'm a sheep. because then we'll be able to have hope in fourthly this, hope in the good shepherd will die to deal with the sin of his sheep. When it comes to giving serious consideration to the question, why did Jesus have to die? Any accurate answer must include me or you ourselves. The Father willed it. Isaiah 53 v. 6 C. The Father willed it because we are in absolute need of His work. And the Lord laid on Him. The Lord God the Father laid on Him. Jesus Christ. The sins. Of you and me. He laid down His life for the Are we ready to face this truth today, beloved, that we are the reason the perfect, pure, sinless, glorious, marvelous, without fault Savior came to the world, into the world, the Son of God, to take upon himself the torment and the agony, both of living with humans who were constantly sinful in his perfect, pure, glorious presence. I can't even imagine what that would have been like. But then particularly to go to the agony of the cross, where he cried out those seven words upon the cross, which included the words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, which we'll look at more this evening in a certain way. All of that because you sinned this week. Because I sinned this week. Are we ready to face that? That he died, he breathed his last, he gave up his spirit, his heart stopped beating on the cross because we failed to adhere to the law of God. We say that we love God. But the fact that Jesus had to die on the cross proves the imperfection of our love for God. But he died on the cross. Now think about this. With all that we've said so far, think about this. John chapter 10, verse 14. I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep. That means two things. Particularly and firstly, we think of that as meaning he knows his elect. That's true. He knows us by name. But I think it also means that he knows sheepness. He knows what is the nature of a sheep. He said in another place, I know what's in a man. And then verse 15 of John chapter 10, I lay down my life for my sheep. Is that not the most shocking thing? That though he knows us perfectly, he still chose to die for us satisfactorily. Jesus died, if I can put my own name here and think of you as well, for one not worth dying for. Sheep who go astray. Isn't that true? Prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. But he died for us. When somebody comes up and asks you this week. Were they to do that? Why does your church have a sign out front that says we're going to focus for a number of weeks on answering the question? Why did Jesus have to die? Oh, by the way, why did Jesus have to die and you say to them? Because we're like sheep. We will begin to get it right. Amen. Our Father in heaven, how glorious is salvation? That you would die for those who were your enemies. Those who, if we had power in our fallen condition, would throw you off your throne and place ourselves on the place of all authority. And we would say about ourselves, we are gods. Oh, God, what a glorious salvation is this, that you have come for those who are like sheep, who go astray, turn to our own ways. Lord, thank you. for the greatness of your grace and mercy in Jesus, for which, O Heavenly Father, we will be eternally grateful. Receive this morning our praise, for we offer it in Jesus' name, amen. Congregation let's sing by way of response now 381 After which and the benediction will have our doxology 493 so let's stand