The Good Shepherd

I love to sit in the back and stand there, especially so I can greet you as you come in. But oh, to sit up here and hear everyone singing to fulfill Ephesians, where I get to hear everyone singing hymns and songs and spiritual songs for other brothers and sisters. These are the blessed seats. Move forward if you can. Who are you following? Today, this is a question that we usually look at our phone to answer. Usually when someone asks us this, this means you're asking, who do you follow on Twitter? This is a new social media way of keeping up with friends. Twitter is a way of expressing your random observations and thoughts throughout the day in 140 characters or less. When we think about following somebody and we think about it this way, it really reduces and in the detriment to our understanding of what it means to follow someone. It isn't just simply keeping up with what someone is saying or doing that particular day. To follow someone is to make a commitment. It requires discipline. It requires sacrifice. It requires swearing and allegiance. So I ask you this morning, who do you follow? Now, who are you casually keeping up with? Who do you follow? Who is your master? Who do you swear allegiance to? We know following is a serious commitment because Jesus Christ commands anyone who will be his disciple, take up your cross and follow me. Following means, Christ, it means that we change the way we think. The way we act, the way we feel, the way we desire, the decisions we make, it affects every aspect of life. It means we trust someone else to determine how we will live our life. Who do you follow? Our message this morning from the text will show us that Christ lays down his life for us and calls us to follow him. He is the lamb who was sacrificed for us to purchase us with his blood and also the shepherd who leads us. This morning, we'll be hearing about the shepherd who lays down his life to save us and to lead us out of our sin, to lead us into new life. He is the king who has come to die for his people and his people obey him as Lord. This morning we're looking at John chapter 10. If you don't have a Bible, there is a pew Bible in front of you and you can turn to page 896 to follow along with us in our reading. Our message this morning, Christ lays down his life for us and calls us to follow him. Hear the word of the Lord, John 10 verses 1 through 21. Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also. And they will listen to my voice. So there'll be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the father loves me because I lay down my life and I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my father. There was, again, a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said he has a demon and is insane. Why listen to him? Others said these are not the words of one who was oppressed. These are not the words of the one who was oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blonde? Will you pray with me? Lord, we come before you. Seeking light. We pray that You would give us sight to understand Your Word. Give us sight to see Your love. And that You have come to be our King. You have come to be the King who lays down His life for His sheep. Help us, Lord, to not be confused like these crowds. Help us to understand who You are and who You have called us to be. Help us, Lord, to be Your sheep. Help us to hear your voice. Call us by name, Almighty God, call us to yourself. Give us your spirit so that we will not listen to another voice. But only follow you. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Well, to begin by making a few observations about our text. Something that stands out is the truly, truly when Jesus says that he's drawing our attention. This is important truth. Amen. Amen. Listen twice. He gives us this instruction versus one in verse seven. There's obviously a lot of familiar language here, there's there's sheep, there's shepherds, there's thieves, there's robbers or strangers, this language goes throughout and the key hinge is that This is a figure of speech. Notice there in verse 6, this figure of speech Jesus used. It's an allegory or a parable. He's speaking of something common. He's taking what will be common knowledge of the day, how sheep and shepherds related to one another. And he's speaking of something much more important than just sheep and shepherds. He's talking about himself as the king sent by God the Father to rescue his people. And as we heard Andrew read from Ezekiel 34, this is a theme rich throughout scripture. There are three basic sections and they're controlled by this figure of speech. Sheep, shepherds, and notice the shepherds are always contrasted with thieves, robbers, strangers, tired hands. There's only one true shepherd and he is calling out his one flock. We also need to remember that he's still talking to the Pharisees. He's held a blind man. The Pharisees continue to be stumped by him. And as he's talking about the healing of how he gives sight, one of the Pharisees says, are we blind? And here he's contrasting himself with the blind Pharisees. He is the one who has sight. He is the one who gives light. He's contrasting himself with the false leaders, the blind who are leading the blind. He's the one who leads us into true sight. One other thing to remember as we looked in the gospel of John, John is telling us about who Jesus is. He's the son of God. We see this language emphasized in the last half of our reading of his teaching here. He is the son sent by the father who has authority to lay down his life. We're to believe in him. He says, I am the good shepherd. He is the king. He lays on his life. He's the priest. I want to walk through the three basic sections here. Verses one through six is a a general section. That's where the figure of speech is first introduced. And it's just speaking of the common knowledge of how a shepherd and sheep relate. Verses seven through ten, Jesus gets very specific. And he says, I am the door. I am the only way you have access. to the promises of God. I am the only means by which you can have access to God's promises. That's verses seven through 10. And then third, we hear one of the. Most encouraging, most talked about, most pictured metaphors or figures of speech in all Scripture, the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. So the first section. It first states the general truth, and it zooms out to give kind of the big picture here. It gives us a picture of a common pen, and there's a watchman over this pen, and numerous shepherds would have their sheep in this pen. The true shepherd, he walks into the door, the watchman knows who he is, he's a shepherd who has sheep in the pen, and that shepherd, he has sheep that he owns. There are other sheep, but he has sheep specifically that he owns, and he calls them by name. And he knows his sheep and his sheep know them and knows him and they know his voice. And when he calls them, they follow him. In the West, the picture that I've usually seen is that in the West, shepherds drive their sheep. The shepherds will be behind the sheep and they'll have dogs that go ahead of them and they're driving the sheep. In the East, shepherds lead their sheep. They stand in front of them and they make a specific, unique sound that their sheep know, and they follow the shepherd they know by sight and the shepherd they know by voice. Sheep are very skeptical creatures. They do not trust strangers. If you do not question this, go visit Peter's farm. They look at you and stare at you and wonder who you are. But Peter, no, they go to him. They know their shepherd. Here, he's just speaking of a general truth, but obviously it means something much more specific. The shepherd. It's very sweet. Think about this. The shepherd, he knows his people. He calls them by name. They don't listen to strangers. They only know their shepherd and they follow his voice. What a beautiful picture of salvation. What a beautiful picture of discipleship. Now obviously the parable or allegory explained is that Jesus goes in, I believe the pen is representing Israel, the race and nation in general, and that shepherd Jesus, he goes in and he calls out his specific people from Israel. Not all of Israel are Jesus' people, but some are. Now the second section, he pulls back the veil, he stops speaking in this figure of speech. And the setting is also different. Look at verses 7 to 10. Truly, truly, I say to you, I'm getting your attention. I am the door. All who come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep, they don't listen to them. I'm the door. I am the way in which you enter salvation. If you want to be taken out of that pasture and here a different setting is given, it's God's pasture. It's God's land. It's God's place. It's all of God's promises. There's only one gate. And Jesus is saying, I am that way. Verse nine is really the key verse here. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and he will go in and out and find pasture. Jesus is here to be the fulfillment of all God's promises. He's here to give life and life abundantly. The other shepherds, the others who claim to be ways in which you receive God's promises, they don't bring life, they bring death because they're guided by selfish interest. Our third section, it's the big one. 11 through 21, or really 11 through 18, 19 and 21 just show that the crowds, Jesus' own people who he came to save, they don't get it. that they continue to be blind and not see. But verses 11-18, they give us this sweet picture. I am the good shepherd. He's the perfect shepherd. Jesus cares for the sheep and He cares for them by laying down His life. He's not like the hired hand who's only there for gain. He's there for the sheep. He's going to do whatever it takes to protect them, to provide for them. He will lay down His life for them. He loves the sheep. His sheep are his own. When you go home, read this again and listen to the ownership. He possesses them. He's purchased them. But it's very personal. So it's a sweet relationship that he presents of the shepherd and the sheep. They are his own. They know his voice and they follow him. Verses 14 and 15 really capture the central focus here. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me just as a father knows me. And I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. These are mine. I'm going to leave them, I'm going to care for them, I'm going to die for them. These are fantastic truths about Jesus and us. And as we think about this passage, as we continue to meditate upon the doctrine and the application, continue to ask yourself, who am I following? Am I following Jesus is leading into life and life more abundantly, or am I following another master? And let it be very clear. Jesus is saying every other master leads to death. Every other master is seeking a selfish, destructive intention for you. Only Jesus gives life and life more abundantly. The first thing we need to see this morning is that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Jesus is the only way of salvation. He declares, I am the door. I am the door of the sheep. You must come through me. The pastor here, just like Psalm 23, which we've sung, it represents the promises of God. The Lord's my shepherd, he leads me into good pastors, that the pastor is God's good promises. And the only way you can receive the promise of God is through Jesus Christ, who Paul says is in whom is the yes and amen of the promises of God. Or go home and meditate this morning on Ephesians 1. Go home and meditate on Ephesians 1, where it says every spiritual blessing from the Father is yours through Christ. It is only that you receive the blessing of the Father in Christ. He's the only way to receive the promises of God, the salvation of God. We must believe Jesus, what he's done, what he has said. We must believe what he says about us. We're sinners in need of a savior. We're sinners under guilt, under God's wrath. We're sinners corrupt. And we need to be led out of our sin by a good shepherd. We cannot trust in our works. You can't do enough good works to outweigh your evil and your bad works. It doesn't work that way. That pride only makes your works worse and makes your your account of guilt worse. We cannot be good enough. That's why Jesus came to be good enough and to die for our sin. Now. One of the dangerous lies that floats in our culture. Is that we can choose our own way to God and there's many ways to go. Do you hear what we're saying there? We're saying that we can determine how we're going to get to God. It's like the clay telling the potter, I'm going to tell you what to make out of me. I'm going to tell you what I deserve. It's offensive to pretend that all the religions of the world are the same. First, it's offensive to God, I believe, because there's one way. He has declared there's one way. It's offensive to every religion. And I'm speaking on behalf of all religions. You're trying to pretend you can stand over all the religions and you can judge us and pretend you know everything about the religion and saying there's nothing different about you. There's such a great difference between the great major world religions. How pretentious of you to tell the Muslim what you're doing really doesn't matter. You can do you can go to God anyway. How pretentious, how offensive. Friends, Jesus said, I am the only way. Either he's the only way or no way. Either he's the only way or you have to judge him as wrong. As a liar, he's either speaking the truth and he's the only way or he's no way at all. We see this more in John 14. I am the way, the truth and the life. There is no life apart from Jesus. You can see it even more once we get to the prayer of Gethsemane. Father. If it is possible, let this cup pass. Jesus, the whole book of John is headed towards the cross. The whole book of each gospel is headed towards the cross. His whole life is headed towards the cross. Here he is, hours away from death for sins he didn't commit. And he's saying, Father, if there's any way, if it is possible, take this cup from me. Take the cup of death. Take away the wrath. I'm about to suffer. And the father said there is no other way. There's no other way for your sheep to be forgiven. There's no other way for you to go in and save them and redeem them and bring them out. For you to say there's other ways, it's a lie about Jesus. For you to say there's other ways is to say Jesus' death doesn't matter. For you to say there's other ways, You're also lying about yourself. You're not taking your sin seriously. You do not see your sin properly in light of God's holiness, and you do not realize that the wrath of God is against your sin and that somebody had to come and take that wrath away. That's why the cup of death and wrath could not be passed. Jesus is the only way of salvation. When he gives salvation, it's life. It's life abundantly. He comes and he reconciles us to God. He puts us back in that proper relationship that we were designed for. This is central. Our biggest need is for God, once again, to be our friend instead of our enemy. And Jesus accomplishes that. The second thing we see in our passage, not only is Jesus the only way of salvation, Jesus establishes God's rule against our rebellion. Jesus establishes our rule against our rebellion. We are all ruled by something or someone. We're all sheep. We all follow someone. We all follow something. The question is, who are you following? We've all gone astray as sheep, and Christ has come to redeem us. In order to understand this and appreciate it, there's a few things we have to explain that the Bible assumes. We need to know something about ourselves. First, we were created by God to be known by God and to know Him. He created us to have a special, personal relationship with Him. Secondly, we were created and are designed to be worshippers. We are worshipping something. God designed us to worship Him because He's the only one worthy of worship. But the important thing to know about ourselves, we're worshippers. We love things, and what we love we worship. We're all worshipping something. We're always worshipping. A rebellion against God makes us more inclined to worship things that are not God. rather than worshiping God. The other thing we need to realize is that God has a right to rule us. God has a right to rule us. It is good to be ruled by God. It is good to be under His authority. It is good to know that the Almighty God is there to provide for us and protect us, and He can. We pretend to be autonomous and independent. We're not. Jesus has said this chapter before, when you choose sin, it is your master. We love to pretend we were in control. We love to pretend that we have it all together. But when we choose sin, it is our master. It is what we worship. We're either worshiping God or sin. We're either controlled and ruled by God as we worship him. Or we're controlled and ruled by sin. This is where Jesus' declaration, I am the good shepherd, is such good news. Because he has come to rule us, and it is good for us. Let's just look at this simple declaration, I am the good shepherd. Well, by declaring, I am, he is equating himself, he's identifying himself with the covenant God of Israel. In Exodus 3, God revealed his personal covenant name, I am who I am. It's Yahweh has declared himself to be the one God who created all things, the God who has said, I'm going to redeem my people, I'm going to make promises, and here Jesus is saying, not only about the fulfillment of those promises, By declaring, I am, which there's a series of throughout John, he's identifying himself as God Almighty. Now, this is remarkable. We don't want to miss it. God came down to man. The Creator came down to the creature. He came, the good God came to save those whom he placed with a special authority and a special responsibility, but yet let a mutiny against him. He came down to rule them and to reestablish the rule. When he says, I am the good shepherd, he's only saying he's God, but he's declaring, I am the king. When Jesus came, he came to fulfill three basic offices that we can see throughout scripture. He's a prophet, as Hebrews says, God is no longer speaking through the prophets. He is spoken now, finally, in his own son. We see he's a prophet because he's teaching us more and more emphatic or more emphasis in this text is that he's a priest. He's the one who lays on his life. But most central is that he's the king. The shepherd language is royal language used for a king. It was oftentimes applied to a king in the ancient Near East. Homer, in his Odyssey, applies shepherd to the different kings. It was a common way of describing a king, giving a title to a king. It makes sense. As a shepherd provides and protects for people, a king provides and protects. And when a shepherd provides and protects for sheep, a king provides and protects people. The picture, it fits. It also reminds us we need law. We need rule. God's plan, and listen to this, God's plan has always been to establish a monarchy. God's plan has always been to establish a monarchy because we need a king. God was meant to be our king in the garden. And we threw him off. We decided we would be autonomous and independent and we will lose everything. But then in the midst of the curse, Genesis 3, 15, he promises that a son will be born that will reverse the curse, that a child will be born. He would be bruised, but yet he would crush the head of the enemy. What a beautiful picture of the gospel, what a beautiful picture of the shepherd, the good shepherd who lays down his life. He wins victory through defeat. So throughout the Old Testament, after Genesis 315, we're looking for one guy. We're looking for one son who's going to reverse the curse and put us back in a right relationship with the king. So God makes promises to Abraham in chapter 12 of Genesis and 15 and 17. A son is promised. And in Genesis 17, he's promised you will be a father of nations. Kings will come for you. In Genesis 49, we see it even more precise. The scepter will not leave Judah. We know the tribe now from which that king will come. Deuteronomy 17, the rules for Israel regarding a king. You are not to seek a king like the nations. This is very important. Don't look for a king who's tall and strong and powerful. Look for a king that I choose. Look for a king that I establish. Look to me. For the king, the king who leads you according to my precepts. Not a king like the nations. This is where we see Saul and David contrasted. Well, we actually see David and David contrasted. Sometimes he's God's king. Sometimes he's his own king. 2 Samuel 7. God promises David that a son of his will sit on the throne forever. There will be a forever monarchy. He will be like a son to me. And I'll be like a father to him. Psalm 2. The nations rage, but God will put his king on the throne and he will crush them. And then Ezekiel 34. That is worthy of your meditation. Reading it alongside John 10. The shepherds that God has put over Israel, they failed. As sinners, they have failed. This is why we don't like monarchy, because the monarchies we know are men. And they're sinful men. And when men have all the power, they are absolutely corrupt. And they're selfish. But this is not the same monarchy we're talking about here. We're talking about Christ the King. God who is good. Who cares for his sheep. He contrasts himself as a good shepherd over against all other shepherds. And when it says good, he's not speaking of, I'm the moral king. It's the excellent king. It's the perfect king. He's obviously moral, but he's the supreme king. He's good because he knows his own sheep. He has a personal interest in the sheep. He sees the ownership as not just a possession to be used for his own gain, but a possession for their well-being and their care. Listen again to Ezekiel 34 and listen to the promise God makes. I, I myself. You can turn your bulletin. Behold. I'm beginning in verse 11. Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out as I shepherd as a shepherd seeked out his own flock when he is among his sheep that they have been scattered. So I will seek out my sheep and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries will bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountain of Israel. by the ravines and in all the inhabited places of the country, I will feed them with good pasture. And the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. They shall lie down in good grazing land and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost. I will bring back the strayed. I will bind up the injured and I will strengthen the weak and the fat and the strong. I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. God knows no king will ever rule rightly. who was born of Adam in sin. That's why he sent a new head of the race, Jesus Christ, who rules us with goodness. How does Jesus lead the sheep? By laying down his life for them. This is kind of counterintuitive the way we think about kings and rulership and authority, because we think sinfully. That's why it's counterintuitive. He brings victory through being conquered. He brings life through death. He must crush our enemy's sin and death by dying himself. He brings about the death of death through his own death. And I don't want you to miss it. He lays down his own life. Death does not have power over him. The victory that he gives is him submitting himself to that death. He gives himself over to us to die. This shows the love of God. This shows the love of the king. This is why he's a good king. He does what we need. He leads us according to our greatest need. He removes the wrath that we deserve. I want to back up and I want to give a big picture of John here. It's important to think of John and that the very first 18 verses is a high Christology. He launches us straight in the air as he begins the gospel to talk about this one we're speaking of. He's he was in the beginning. He was with God, he is God. It's a high Christology. He himself has seen God and he's making him known. And then John specifically chooses different stories who drop us in on from that high place he's already given us, like the wedding at Cana, the woman at the well, the bread, a tamarack feast. throughout the first 11 chapters so that we can get a picture of this Son of God who's been sent by the Father, who gives new life. But in chapter 12, the last chapter, almost half the book, is the last few days of Christ's life. The whole book is pointing to this king who's going to come in and we see there in Chapter 12 as he's entering in on a donkey representing a king who's going to bring peace. The people cry out, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. Now, Israel's praising him as he's coming in on a donkey representing peace, but we know in a few days they're going to hang him on a cross, which is shameful. They're going to put him to death. And the sad irony is the only proper profession came from a pagan pilot who nailed over the cross the head of Jesus, the King of the Jews. God ordained that. What a beautiful picture. Because there you see the Good Shepherd. He's the King of the Jews. dying for his people who have rejected him, who have hung him in shame, who derided him and spat upon him. He's the king of the Jews. He's the king who lays down his life. He's a king who lays down his life for his friends. He's demonstrating he is the best friend we have. We are his enemies, and yet he dies for us. We put him to death, and yet he chooses to submit to our hammer. submitting himself to God's wrath. He's the king who serves his people. The third thing we see of Jesus is that he commands our obedience. What a good king. He knows us. He knows us by name. What's actually amazing about how much he knows us, he knows how sinful we are. He knows the thoughts that go through your head. He knows the sinful desires that you have. He knows your sin better than you know your sin, and yet He still chooses to call you His own. He knows you. He loves you. He lays down His life for you. He calls you by name. He's a personal Savior who knows you personally and calls you personally. He gives life and follows and gives life abundantly. What we're called to do is follow Him. He commands our obedience, and he commands us to follow him, to deny our sin, our pride, our lying about our autonomy, and to follow him as our king. This is an interesting claim. We must follow him as king, and I believe 1 Peter actually gives a good picture as to why we must follow him. 1 Peter 1, beginning of verse 17, And if you call on him as father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. There you see the following. Knowing that you were ransomed not from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. We follow him because he purchased us. He bought us. He bought us from death. He bought us from sin. He bought us from being caged and captured. He bought us for freedom to now follow him in life. He bought us with his own blood. So I ask you, who are you following? Are you following your fleshly desires? Are you following Christ, the shepherd who loves you? I want to go back and I want to look at verses 4 and 5. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Now, this is a very bold and powerful claim. What he's saying here is that my sheep will not follow another person's voice. My sheep will only follow me. And somebody asked, as they were reading this week, they asked me, well, does that mean Christians will never follow a sinful master? What does that mean for those who profess to be Christ but are yet following sin? Well, I think this is a very good question. There are a couple of principles. If someone only professes Christ and they continually have a pattern of sin without repentance, we need to be careful in confirming and treating them as a Christian. If someone is only saying I'm a Christian, but yet there's no following, there's no evidence of grace, we need to be careful in affirming them as Christians and treating them as Christians, because if they're not, we're lying to them. We're further capturing them and thinking they're okay in the midst of living in the sin that's going to send them to hell. We need to be careful in confirming and treating others as Christians. We need to be eager. We need to be eager to give confirmation to those we see evidence of grace in. We need to be careful in giving confirmation to those we see no evidence of grace. The second principle is this. All Christians have sinful hearts. We're not yet done with sin. We are now free from his power and we're forgiven, but we're still longing for that day where we no longer have sin. We are all still prone to have a temptation to follow their idols. A Christian will be brought to repentance by the Good Shepherd. Every Christian will be tempted into idolatry. Every Christian will have a master during a season. But Christ will always call us to repentance. We go through these seasons of having a facade of freedom where we're pursuing sin. But Christ does not let his sheep remain and continue there. We must listen to the voice of Jesus. I ask you, as you think about who you're following, what has grabbed your attention and work its way into your heart so that your love for Christ and desire to follow him has diminished? What is it that has enticed you and that you delight in that diminishes your love and following of Jesus Christ? Is it your work? Is it a new relationship? Is it a hobby? Whatever it is, you're making that your master. And in order to to follow Christ again, you have to stop listening to that new master. This is important. If you are professing to be a Christian and yet you are following sin and not following Christ, you have said sin, you can be my master for this season. And the first step is stop pursuing that sin. You cannot pray for chastity while staring at pornography. You can't keep pursuing a sin and ask for God to forgive you and leave and free you of that sin. You cannot have two masters. And I ask you, if you're playing around with one of those remasters, is it really giving you life and life more abundantly? Have the promises that it gave you, have they come to fulfillment and fruition? Sin's kind of like bad bubble gum. You put it in and it has that great juicy flavor right at the beginning. And then minutes later, it's kind of hard to chew and kind of chalky. What do you do? You spit it out. If you're a Christian, that's what following sin will always end like. Sin is miserable. Yeah, it gives you a delight for a moment, but it's misery for those who know what it means to follow Christ and to know the life and life abundantly he's given. Remove whatever is keeping you from tasting heaven's joys. Remove whatever is consuming you and keeping you from delighting in the bread of life. Spit it out. Stop letting that master control you. At the same time, look to the cross. Look there where you see the love of the Good Shepherd. Look there where you see his power to forgive, his power to free. Begin focusing on the life he's promised and directed in his word. Now, if you're in a place of apathy, If you're in a place where you're wrestling between two masters, you're not going to find your way to Christ accidentally. It doesn't happen accidentally. Someone recently said, if you were simply coasting in your spiritual life, you're most likely going downhill. Stop living in apathy. By stop pursuing by stopping the pursuit of the things that have kept you from enjoying Christ and start seeing the master. Start seeking him again. The final application that I think is helpful for us to meditate upon. I'm not going to say briefly. Tempted to, but I'm not going to lie to you. We must follow his model for leading. We see here in John 10, the Good Shepherd, he is modeling for us Christians what it means to lead and have authority. What I continue to be amazed by is how the cross changes every category we think of. It changes everything. It changes everything about marriage, friendship and your leadership, because we think about it with sinful minds. Our ways are not God's ways. That's why he had to come down and save us. The world looks at authority and leadership as power, prestige and persuasion. Christ shows that leadership and authority are serving, protecting and providing. Christian leaders seek what is best for others, not best for themselves. Christian leaders do not lord it over or command. Christian leaders model, serve, and seek what is best for others. So I ask you, in your place of work, where you have authority and where you lead, what would your co-workers or those underneath you, what would they say about the way you lead? Do they experience you seeking what is best for them? Is your motivation to help others succeed or to use them for your own success? If we're going to follow the model and pattern of Christ, leadership and authority is given to us to care for others, to lead them into a happier and better life. There's a place of work where we lead. In your marriage, men, Christ is a model for leading with authority. Ephesians 5 makes this very clear. Husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church, giving himself up for her. We believe scripture teaches that men have been given authority in the home, and we have to realize that that authority is like Christ's authority of the church. Authority used for the wife's betterment. Authority used for her care. The first thing we have to realize is that she's not first and foremost our wife. She's the bride of Christ. There's a stewardship and responsibility there because when she dies or you die, she's Christ, the eternal bridegroom. So first we have to realize there's a responsibility and stewardship because she is his first and foremost. She's been entrusted to your care. Our call is to give our life for hers. Now, thankfully, that does not mean on the cross. What it does mean is that we give up what we would do with our time. our energy and our resources for her well-being. It means we know who she is. We know her and we seek to serve her and love her as Christ loved the church. Not with a sinful tendency to rule her so that she feeds into our selfish laziness or to make her what we want her to be. No, men, we're called to help her be who Christ has called her to be. Christ leads the church by giving himself over to her. He sets aside his glory. He considers us more important than himself. He considers our interests more important than his own. That is what Christian leadership and authority looks like. Finally, we look to the leaders in the church elders who are called shepherds, listen to first Peter five. So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you'll receive the unfading crown of glory, Likewise, you are younger, be subject to the elders, clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Notice the position of elder or a pastor. It's a position of humility and service. We're to seek the betterment of other people. We're to point them to Christ. That is the job of the under-shepherd, to point them to the chief shepherd. It's for their gain. It's for their betterment. So church, I would ask you first, pray for us. Pray that we would not be ruled by our opinions and our personal desires. Pray that we will be ruled by God's word, that we would truly be submissive to the head of the church and lead the body, serving them to also worship the head of the church. I want to say something that may be provocative. I don't think it is, shouldn't be. You can trust your elders. I was speaking on behalf of the elders. You can trust your elders. I'm so thankful to serve alongside of men who clearly desire what the word of God says, and they clearly care for you. Your elders love you, love Christ, and want to point you towards Christ. That doesn't mean we're not going to fail. We have failed you. We will fail you. We're sinners. Every time we fail, this is what you do. You recognize Christ never fails. We're the under shepherds, we fail. Christ, the chief shepherd, he never fails you. His love, his righteousness is perfect. When we fail you, forgive us quickly, please. But but let our failure also point you to Christ who never fails. And help us that way. To remind us that Christ never fails us. Finally, we're about to enter a season where we're going to be asking for elder recommendations. Be praying. Who has God equipped? Who is God calling? Who do you experience Christ through? Who points you to a deeper relation with Christ and a greater trust in his word? These are the men we want leading Jefferson Park as elders. I conclude with a question. Who are you following? Are you following Christ and are you truly experiencing the life and life abundant that he has promised? Are you following sin? Has it led to its proper end, which is misery, which should lead you to repent, believe in Christ and follow him? Will you pray with me? We praise you, Father, for sending your son to be our good shepherd. Forgive us for not submitting to him. Forgive us for not always following you, forgive us for having ears that are so tempted to listen to other voices. Help us, Lord, to have hearts that have a single worship because you have a singular love towards us. Help us, Lord, to follow you and to worship you as a body gathered and as individuals seeking to worship. We thank you. Christ, for coming to rule us by laying down your life for us. Help us, Lord, now to be the sheep that follow you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.