This morning, we're turning two places. The first, since we're working through the Psalms, is Psalm 23, though I will be primarily focused this morning on John 10 because I believe that John 10 provides us a real illustration of Psalm 23 and that will be a helpful way to look at this this morning. Two things real quick before we read the Scriptures. Many of you have said, what translation are you using? My challenge has been, in the last eight years, I've been preaching from the New King James and I was a heavy memorizer of it, so a lot of it is in my mind. And so at times it will just come out. I'm trying to get used to the ESV, which I'm not used to yet. So there is a remarkable difference in the translations. So be patient with me that way and I'm working toward adjusting to the new translation. Psalm 23 we'll begin with this morning. A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before Me in the presence of My enemies. You anoint My head with oil and My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow Me all the days of My life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now let's turn over to John 10 this morning. Beginning at verse 1 of John 10. 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 came 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 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, I know the Father. 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 will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. 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 is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? May the Lord bless the hearing of His Word. Jesus made many radical statements in the course of His ministry. And one of them that really offended the Jews was that they would know the truth and the truth would set them free. What troubles me about history and throughout history and reading of the history of the church and what has happened is not so much that the world... It does trouble me that the world doesn't understand that, but it's really troubled me that often those in the church have not understood that. Those in the visible kingdom have not grasped that the truth would make them free. And the reason for that, the reason that such freedom has not been enjoyed as it should in the church of Jesus Christ is that often those claiming to be shepherds in Israel ruled God's people with force and with cruelty. This is all over the Old Testament. And the result was a bunch of confused and miserable and ignorant people who knew nothing about the faithful and the Good Shepherd as He had revealed Himself and what He would do for them. Things had gotten so bad in Israel that the whole thing had been overrun with false shepherds and the devil had done such damage among God's people, the only way it could be recovered was by the true shepherd himself. It was the only way. That's why you had that period of silence between the old and the new. There was only one who could recover the awful condition of what had happened in Israel. And that's what makes this morning John 10 so beautiful. And I love this for the supper because it is illustrating for us, it's showing us the fulfillment of something like Psalm 23. We all love Psalm 23. It's a favorite. But what does that look like in the life of God's people? I mean, that's the question, isn't it? What does Psalm 23 look like? Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. His rod and His staff, they comfort me. They guide me. You prepare a table in the midst of my enemies. All of this language, how do I enjoy that? How do I see that? How do I know that? What kind of table does He spread? Oh, I'm giving it away too soon, aren't I? Giving it away too soon this morning. John 10 is beautiful. John 10 is beautiful. And it's showing us this morning that everything that the Old Testament Scriptures talked about with regard to the Lord as our shepherd, it's showing us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of that. And it's setting it in some very stark contrast to the false shepherds of Israel that was a big problem for a long time. I believe Psalm 23 comes alive through John 10. And hopefully you'll never see it the same. So let's look at this this morning. In verse 1, we have this statement. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. Now, there's a lot of imagery that our Lord uses here. And everyone in Israel, at least at a surface hearing, would have understood the metaphors that Jesus was using. Throughout Israel, you would have these main plateaus and there would be hills and they would be rocky and steep and you would find sheep constantly being led by the shepherds to find grass. I mean, this is what you would see. And there were all sorts of dangers for them. There were valleys. There were ravines. There were wolves. And it took a very skilled and masterful shepherd to shepherd the sheep and to lead them to find pasture. Everyone knew this. Now, in each village, after a long day, they would be brought into a common sheepfold. A big pen. And the sheepfold had a wall or hedge made of stones that surrounded it to protect the sheep. So at the end of the day, the shepherd would bring his own flock in and they would put him into the common sheepfold. The sheep would all come together in the sheepfold and they would be enclosed into this structure. there would be one major door. A porter or a doorkeeper would then guard them in the fold all night. And he would stand watch at the door and in the morning, each shepherd would come back and it was really a remarkable thing. Each shepherd would come back and he would stand at the door and he would call and the sheep knew their shepherd's voice. So the sheep would then come out from among the fold to the shepherd and He would lead them out. Sheep are interesting creatures. By the way, it's not a compliment. Did you know that? I had someone get mad at me because I called God's people sheep one time. I guess they understood that sheep are not very intelligent. Not a compliment. But anyways, they heard the voice. They heard the voice. And so in verse 2, Jesus says, He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. He's the shepherd. To him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls them by name and he leads them out. And when he brings out his sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. This is all very common to an average Israelite. So early in the morning, there he is. He comes to the sheepfold. All the shepherds have come. And the shepherd would begin to speak. And it's really beautiful here. He would call them by name. And they would recognize the voice. They would come. And Jesus says, they will by no means follow a stranger. But they're going to flee from Him. But they don't know His voice. Verse 2, He climbs up another way. He's a thief. and a robber. Thieves and robbers had two purposes. Two goals. It was to fleece the sheep and slaughter them. That's what they would do. Now this is beautiful imagery. This is extremely comforting. It's always been a favorite among God's people. Everyone at least initially understood what He was saying. But in verse 6, we read something that gets overlooked. In verse 6, we read, They didn't understand the implications of this. In other words, why is He telling us this? Why? I mean, this is nice teaching. We understand it. We get at least, you know, the whole metaphor. We understand what happens with sheep and shepherds. Surely they knew about a sheepfold, a door, a shepherd, and sheep. They should have known exactly what He was describing. You really can't understand John 10 apart from John 9. As a matter of fact, I would suggest there's no break here. If you back up, you have a poor beggar who was abused and blind and hurting and every kind of affliction. This blind man would sit. Remember, we considered this a few weeks ago with Mark's profession. And there he was. He was shamed. He was an outcast in Israel. No one cared about this man. There he sat. And Jesus takes His disciples and He walks right up to this man and He fixes His eyes on him. Remember this? Blind man can't see. And you see, Jesus, in healing him, is giving us now the teaching of exactly what He's fulfilling. Vitally connected to this healing of the blind man, No break. Remember the scene. He had healed him. Here he was, born blind from birth. Jesus has compassion. He gives him sight. He brings him into His kingdom, illustrating the great truth of the blindness of our hearts and the need for spiritual sight. The rest of the scene was what? It was awful. It was an awful scene of the Pharisees. Just attacking this man. They were trying to do everything they could to destroy this man. They didn't care about him. They were all self-appointed, by the way. They weren't in it for the people. Jesus had been saying the whole time that they don't even know God. They were trampling God's people. They were ruling them with force and cruelty. and subjecting them to guilt and force by their ridiculous interpretations of the law. Holding people. They were so out of control in Israel, they were casting out anyone who disagreed with them. Excommunicating them from the synagogue. You'll remember that. They had unsynagogued this man. They didn't care about this man. In verse 34 of the previous chapter, that's exactly what they did. they excommunicated him from the fold of Israel which would have been akin to kicking you out of the church of, in their view, God, you're done. And you see the whole thing exposed that they weren't in it for the sake of the people. They weren't in it for the sake of the people. Now the question is, what did Jesus think of their little excommunication? That's the question. What did Jesus think about this? I believe He takes this single account and He is using a sweeping application here to all of Israel's history. It's a tragic history. All throughout the Old Testament, you would have statements made like this. The constant cry in something like 1 Kings 22.17 I saw Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep having no shepherd. And the word of the Lord came to me, Ezekiel, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds, Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you've not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost, but with force and cruelty you have ruled them, so they were scattered because there was no shepherd. You remember what the Lord promised in that section? I will establish one shepherd over them. One. And He shall feed them. It's not the Pope. One shepherd. One shepherd who would be the head. You understand a little bit when Jesus is out in the wilderness and He's walking and He's looking at people. I'll never forget when I was planning to go on the ministry, I listened to an exam of a man one time and they asked him, when you look at people walking around, what do you see? and I'll never forget that question he didn't get it right but what he should have said is I see dead men walking I see dry bones in a valley of dry bones Jesus is out on his ministry remember what he said he's looking out at the multitudes and he just looks at them And the thing we read about Jesus is He was moved with what? Compassion. Because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. And so what was His antidote to that? Mark 6 says, So He began to teach them many things. They weren't fed. They weren't cared for. And so He starts giving bread. And you know, John 6, this is not the bread that fills bellies. He starts giving bread. And He starts feeding them with the true manna from heaven. He gave them doctrine and He replenished their souls. He made alive hearts. As He spoke, flesh was coming on bones. And they were these malnourished sheep off in the hills. They were coming and they were being restored and everything that the Old Testament promised in something like Psalm 80. He was restoring the fold of Israel. That was His mission. Recovery mission. Do you think we're living today? Do you think we have our greatest need today being a recovery mission? We've so long thought about ministry being going out and And waving John 3.16 to the lost. Amen. That's great. But I think we have to rethink everything where we are. This is a recovery mission in a post-Christian culture. Have you seen what's happened? I'm grieved today because so many sheep are still scattered. And they have shepherds, but the shepherds aren't feeding. Are you burdened by this? Are you burdened by this? Or do we just easily overlook this and think, can't criticize anything today, it's all okay. The whole history of Israel tells us how God felt about this problem. In Jeremiah, we have one of the most severe indictments about this problem. This was God's great indictment. Listen to what He said to Israel. Who has stood in the counsel of the Lord and perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? I've not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I've not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil ways and their evil doings. I have heard what these prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, I have a dream, I have a dream. How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed, they are prophets of deceit of their own heart. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. He who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat, says the Lord? Is not My Word like a fire? And like a hammer that breaks the rocks in pieces. Therefore, behold, I'm against the prophets, says the Lord, who steal My words, every one from his neighbor. Behold, I'm against those who prophesy false dreams, says the Lord, and tell them and cause My people to err by their lies and their recklessness. That's the Lord. That was His view of what happened. Do we have any shortage of pastors today? Boys and girls, you know shepherd means pastor. Do we have any shortage today? Isn't it tragic that the teaching ministry of the church is taking the last place of importance all around us? The teaching and the preaching ministry of the church. The Lord described a day when this would happen. And they would be like people who desperately run around looking for food and drink. I saw the other day something I hadn't seen in America very much of. But I was passing by over here and I saw a family standing out and the dad had a sign. And behind him were all these little kids. Normal family. I'm out of work. I can't feed my family. Now, what would you think of that? Compassion. What about when God's people are not being given the words of life? We're pretty tolerant today. And I suggest that the blame is the pastors. It's on them. And the parents should be asking, why are our children starving? This burdened the Good Shepherd. And so here He begins to explain everything. And this is so comforting and encouraging and assuring because He said not one of His old saints in the Old Testament were lost. He begins to explain the wayside saying. And He directly applies it to these false shepherds who are standing before them who don't care about the sheep. And so he says in verse 7, Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Isn't that wonderful that He would say that? I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Now think back to the sheepfold for a minute, boys and girls. I'm the door. I'm the door of the sheep. I'm the only one by which people have access. They have legitimate access. It sounds just like what Jesus would say in John 14. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man enters, right? No man comes to the Father except through me. You have to come through me, said Jesus. Jesus takes this metaphor and He applies it right to Him. I alone give access by which you come in and go out. Psalm 23. So all the blessings of salvation, they come through me. And I want you to notice here what He does. He sets Himself as the door in contrast with everything that just happened to this blind man. In other words, the grand contrast is made between the kind of shepherd the Lord is and the kind of shepherds Israel has been filled with. Jesus has entered this sheep through the door, hasn't He? He's called Him by name. And He's come. He's enfolded Him. He's rescued Him. He's saved Him. But the leaders climbed up another way with the goal of doing what? Fleecing this sheep. Destroying this sheep. And Jesus says, all who ever came before me in verse 8 are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. And He says in verse 10, thieves come to kill and to destroy. I believe a better way to translate verse 8 is to say, all who have come and stepped in front of me and stepped in front of me, the same are thieves and robbers. Think of this poor beggar, blind, what they did to him. They did nothing but intimidate and rule him harshly and brutally, trying to steal people after themselves. For what end? To bring them to complete conformity to their ridiculous interpretations of the law. Ridiculous. And if anyone disagreed with these guys at all in Israel, they were severely attacked and punished. And it got violent. This put Christ on the cross, by the way. How much has this gone on in the history of the church, by the way? Think about it. You've got a taste of it on the scene of world history this week, haven't you? Did you see how these world leaders are to their people? Did you see what Assad was planning to do to his own country's citizens in Syria? Use chemical warfare on them? See that? The international community is throwing up their arms, right? You remember Qaddafi not too long ago? You remember what he was doing? Bombing and killing his own people and after 43 years of cruel dictatorship, they couldn't take it anymore. They were done. They snapped. That's what you're seeing happening on world scene. And that's what's happening in Egypt. They can't take it. They don't want that. It's too much. They'd rather die than be under it. Have you seen the damage of what cruel shepherds can do in the church? Stepping in front of Christ to get followers after them? You have a big problem with that today. Remember when the adulteress came to Christ and poured water on him in Luke 7 and she's weeping over her sins and she's crying out and she's pouring everything of value that she has on the Lord. Jesus forgives her. And remember what happened. The leaders stand there and they say, this man, if he were a prophet, would know what manner of sinner woman this is. She's a sinner. They never helped. They never loved. They never loved. All she faced was condemnations for how great her adulteries were. But what would we do with a woman with multiple adulteries? All the damage. And the sheep were miserable. I have reacted in our day to the theater-driven churches, as I call them, who I believe don't feed the sheep. But I've also reacted on the opposite side of the ditch to those who hold people with ridiculous interpretations of God's Word and the threat that if they don't buy in hook, line, and sinker to every single thing that they're saying, they're not saved. And they beat everyone over the head with this. Now you guys have been blessed in this church with kind, faithful shepherds and the whole history of it. But I've seen the opposite. I've seen the opposite. Churches that bully and intimidate and force submission, I tell you it's not of Christ. In fact, he says in verse 12, a hireling who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. He doesn't care. No love. Sometimes the greatest care will be to protect you and your doctrine, won't it? Even though we don't want to do that today. If you lived at the time of the Reformation and looked at what Rome did to the common people, you'd be weeping right now. You'd be weeping. A hireling is one who just works for the wages. What a choice of words. Here's a blind man. They excommunicated for receiving grace and they're furious he didn't agree with them. Did they care? Did they look at the radiant joy on this man and his new freedom and his Savior? No. Did they care about the man at the pool of Bethsaida? All they cared about was that he carried his mat on the Sabbath, didn't they? Not that he got up. Did they care about the woman caught in adultery? All they cared about is that she was unclean. And you see, what Jesus is telling us this morning, beloved, is in contrast to all of that, here's what I am like to you. If anyone hears Me and enters by Me, you will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Did you just get that? What your Savior said? Your God, what He just said? I've come for this great purpose that you would have abundant life. I don't know how much that overwhelms you. He could be different. Right? This is what He is. My purpose has never been to rule my people with cruelty. Understand the contrast? When Jesus would stand up and say, Come to Me, all you who are heavy and burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and I'm lowly in heart. You're going to find rest. Christ confronted sin to bruise the reed or break it. To bruise it so that it would be strengthened. Right? Do we think of Jesus this way? That in His persistent love, His purpose is to have an abundant life for you. This is the way I shepherd them. Verse 11, I'm the good shepherd. The shepherd gives life for the sheep. And in verse 14, He says, I'm the good shepherd. I know My own. My own know Me. Just as the Father knows Me, I know the Father and I lay down My life for the sheep. He says, my sheep, hear my voice. Every night the shepherd would bring in his flock and each one would come to the sheepfold door and you know what he would do? Psalm 23, he would take that rod and he would lower the rod and stop each sheep and he would inspect each sheep for bruises and cuts and issues. And he'd bandage them up. He'd help them. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul in the valley of the shadow of death. I have nothing at all to fear for your rod and your staff. It's a big comfort to me. I know my sheep. Not one can be taken. During the whole day, He leads them. He inspects them. He cares for them. And Jesus says, I die for them. What shepherd has ever done that? I lay down my life. They might live. And I've got a whole bunch more to bring in. And you know who he's thinking about? You. Christ fulfills every word this morning in closing of what the Old Testament said about shepherds. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they're scattered on a cloudy and dark day. I will feed them with good pasture and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock. I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick. That is your shepherd. As always, there was a division over this. Some hated it. The man is insane to say these things. Others said, do you see what he did to that blind man? Not insane. Two paths are set before you then this morning as we come. Jesus says, I'm the door. Have you entered that door? Have you repented of your sins and come to this good shepherd? Or do you stubbornly refuse Him and continue to live in your misery and bondage? Jesus says to all who come, you know what I've done for you today? I've spread a table before you in the presence of who? Your enemies. And anyone who enters by Me will be saved. Enter Him this day. And you will go in and out and find good pasture. And you'll be able to know what it means that the Lord is your shepherd. Amen.