Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
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live from the
3ABN Worship Center.
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Good evening, and it's almost
time to say, "Happy Sabbath."
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Not quite, but I
think anytime is a good time
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to say, "Happy Sabbath."
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So though it is not
quite happy Sabbath,
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I'm going to
say, "Happy Sabbath,"
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because I'm in a
happy Sabbath mood.
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And I hope
that's alright with you.
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Happy Sabbath.
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And by the time this
meeting shall have ended,
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I think we actually
will be in the Sabbath.
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Late in the 1960's or early
1970's I was visiting New York.
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Not yet pastoring there.
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I was hanging out
with a bunch of young men;
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some were in the
church, some out of the church,
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some coming to the Lord,
some running away from the Lord.
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Just a mixture of guys from
The Hood in Brooklyn, New York.
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And we were playing basketball
there, downtown Brooklyn,
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and somebody said, "You
know, we need to go over
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to the city and check
out this dude who's preaching
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in the New York Center."
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Now you've got to understand
the mechanics of New York City.
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If you live in Brooklyn
or Queens, it's actually
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part of New York City.
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But the people living
in the outer boroughs call
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Manhattan, the city.
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So the Brooklynites were
saying, "We need to go over to
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the city," meaning
Manhattan, "and hear this dude
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who is a really
strong preacher."
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They didn't know his name,
they didn't know much about him,
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except that he could
preach the Word with power.
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And they said,
"You've got to hear this guy.
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This is a bad dude."
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Now those were the days when
"bad dude" meant "good dude."
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And so they said, "We've
got to go hear this dude.
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We've got to go to the city."
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And I remember it very,
very well because, first of all,
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it was my first subway ride.
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And your first
subway ride in New York City
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is a memorable, memorable event.
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Then we went over to the
New York Center on 46th Street
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off of Broadway to
hear this bad dude preach.
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They said,
"Home boy can preach."
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And there was this
tall young slender preacher
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by the name of Ron Halvorsen.
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It was my first
time hearing him.
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And more than what I got
from him, I listened to those
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young, hardened
young men who were so proud
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of their fellow Brooklynite.
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These were guys from Bedford,
Stuyvesant, and the rough areas
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of East Flatbush.
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And they were
preaching, listening to a guy
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from Bay Ridge,
Coney Island preaching.
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And it didn't
matter; black, white,
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rich, poor, that didn't matter.
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He was a
Brooklynite who had found Jesus
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and was preaching the Word.
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And they opened their
Bibles and they listened to him,
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and they were blessed by him.
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And I was blessed
watching how this young preacher
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was blessing these
hardened New York City kids.
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And they were giving
their heart to the Lord.
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That was the first
time I heard Ron Halvorsen.
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And he's been preaching
all of these many years
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with power and with conviction.
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And I realized that young
people can reach young people
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in a very powerful way when
they give their lives to Christ
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and stand up for Him.
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And so way back then
he was preaching for God.
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And here many, many
years later, he is still
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preaching for the Lord, amen.
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And doing a very, very fine job.
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The subject tonight
is, The Good Shepherd,
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as we are in night number
three of our Anchors Of Truth;
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Jesus, The Radical Teacher.
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And we have been
blessed each night, have we not.
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The messages have been
plain and pointed and powerful.
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And I suspect
tonight will be no different
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as Pastor Ron
Halvorsen teaches us the Word.
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I've got to always
distinguish that now;
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Pastor Ron Halvorsen, Sr.
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Because his son is a conference
president in his own right.
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And so that is
Pastor Ron Halvorsen, Jr.
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So since there is a Sr.
and a Jr., and they're both
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in the work, we've got to
distinguish that this is the Sr.
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His wife is here standing by
his side, and they are such fun.
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We were just in the back
talking and reminiscing about
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ministry in New York City.
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Which was a great challenge
and a great blessing to us.
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We're going to have prayer, then
we want to do a song called,
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Go Free.
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And then the next voice
you will hear will be that of
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our preacher, our teacher, our
friend, Pastor Ron Halvorsen Sr.
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Shall we pray.
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Gracious Father, we
just praise You and thank You
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for this, another opportunity
to hear the Word of the Lord.
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You have told us in
Your prophetic Word that
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there is coming soon a famine
for the preaching of the Word.
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But now, Lord, while
the preaching is plentiful
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and the Word is
powerful, we ask You to allow us
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to feed on the Word.
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As it were, to fatten
ourselves on the Word.
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To be full of the Word.
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I ask for the pastor Your
heavenly anointing and unction.
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And then I ask for
those who sit in this house,
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and those who hear and
watch him around the world,
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that Your
Spirit may attend them.
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Give them open and
receptive hearts and minds
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as we seek to learn Your
will, and then do Your will,
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so that we can be
prepared when Jesus comes.
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Accept our prayer
and praise this night.
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And in exchange, give us
Your power and Your presence.
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And we thank You for Your
promise to hear and answer
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the prayer of faith.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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Troubled soul, why are
you sad and down hearted?
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Don't you know He
doesn't care where you started?
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Yesterday can't change tomorrow,
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so leave behind all your sorrow.
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Go free, go free.
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In the name of Jesus, go free.
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Child of God, child adored,
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come to the Lord and go free.
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Tempted soul, I know
you're so tired of aching.
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Don't you know Jesus
has cures for the taking?
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His hand of mercy and healing
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can untie the hurt
that you're feeling.
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Go free, go free.
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In the name of Jesus, go free.
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Child of God, child adored,
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come to the Lord and go free.
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Trembling soul, I know
you're so tired of fighting.
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Don't you know He sees
the wounds you've been hiding?
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The battle that's
raging is so strong
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and you've been a
captive for too long.
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Go free, oh
you've got to go free.
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In the name of Jesus, go free.
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Child of God, child adored,
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come to the Lord and go free.
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In the name of Jesus, go free.
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Child of God, child adored,
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come to the Lord and go free.
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Go free, go free.
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Now go free.
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Thank you, C.A.
Wonderful, wasn't it.
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C.A., a dude?
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A young dude.
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Well I'm still a dude,
but I'm an old dude now.
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I just want to let
the people know that.
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I'm the old dude.
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But I'm happy
to be here at 3ABN.
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It's been a wonderful
few days I've spent here and
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met some of the finest
people, Christian people,
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in the whole world.
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And it's always
great to be with Jim.
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And he's a wonderful
Christian man and preacher,
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and I love to hear him preach.
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And so I'm glad
to be here for this.
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And I'm so happy to be
able to talk to so many people
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that are watching 3ABN.
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Continue to watch it and learn
the great truths of God's Word.
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Be ready for the
coming of Jesus Christ.
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Let's bow our heads
in a word of prayer.
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The story, the
parable, of the Good Shepherd.
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Gracious Father, I pray now
that the Holy Spirit will come
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and be with us.
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We ask that You enlighten
our hearts and open our minds.
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Touch us with Your
grace as we discover
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the good Shepherd.
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For I ask it in
Christ's name, amen and amen.
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I'm fascinated by the
teachings of Jesus Christ.
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In fact, I was in a church
years ago, and every Sabbath
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I'd be preaching on the Christ.
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And finally, a woman came
up to me one day and she says,
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"All you do is
preach about Jesus."
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I said, "Thank you ma'am, that's
the best compliment I ever had."
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All I want to do is
preach about Jesus Christ.
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Because Jesus Christ is
the answer to human problems.
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And so I love and
am fascinated by Jesus.
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And I'm fascinated
by His ability to teach,
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and the wisdom that He showed.
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And I find so many practical
things in my own spiritual life
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as I read the parables
and the teachings of Jesus.
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And yet, I discover how radical
that this Jesus Christ was.
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Now He didn't get His
learning, like many of us, from
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the school of the
prophets, or the university,
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or the place of
higher education.
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He received the gift
of wisdom from His Father.
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He had great insight
because He received the gift
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of wisdom from His Father.
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Have you noticed the
language that Jesus uses when He
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tells these stories?
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I mean, He uses the
language of the country.
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And being a city boy, I'm
fascinated by what He says
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about the
country, His school room.
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He hardly uses university
terms, or scholarly words,
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or long, long paragraphs and
theological abstract concepts,
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drab and generalizing terms.
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His sermons, His homilies,
His meditations, His parables
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come from words
of the countryside.
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Words that blossom with the
verdant colors of the hills.
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Words that are perfumed
by the odors of the orchard.
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His words were not drab
facts, sterile concepts.
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But colorful words, I
mean, descriptive words that
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draw word pictures.
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He was an artist...
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...with His language.
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Words of beauty, full of color.
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He tells stories with
the language of the country
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where He grew up.
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I taught homiletics of
preaching in three or four
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of our universities, and I
tried to tell the young people,
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"Make your
sermon like a painting.
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Put color and beauty in it.
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Like Jesus did in the
simple stories that He told."
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I mean, He saw first with
His eyes, and then His heart,
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and in His head.
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He saw unhappy people.
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And out of their
sadness He wrote the Beatitudes,
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"Happy are they..."
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He saw fields ripe for harvest.
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And they became the
lost waiting to be harvested
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for the kingdom of God.
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I mean, nothing was
plain or ordinary or simple
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or uninteresting
when Jesus taught.
00:14:09.22\00:14:11.93
He used vibrant
colorful, I mean, words from the
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country scenes
and simple people,
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and He wrote His parables.
00:14:17.67\00:14:19.72
Things swelling and ripening
under the great dark leaves
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became a parable.
00:14:24.55\00:14:25.93
Purple clusters of grapes,
succulent, heavy with flavor
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hanging upon green
leaves, dripping with nectar;
00:14:30.37\00:14:33.91
and it became a parable.
00:14:34.19\00:14:35.63
He saw a lost boy in a
pig pen and He wrote a story
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and a parable about a
father longing for his boy
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to come home.
00:14:41.79\00:14:43.04
He saw grass, fervent
fresh and green, waving gently
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in the autumn breeze.
00:14:46.88\00:14:47.91
And He uses knowledge of the
country and the language of the
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country to tell
people about God.
00:14:50.79\00:14:53.15
In all that beauty He
found the deep lessons
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that help us from day
to day, month to month,
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year to year, as
Christians to face the mundane,
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the ordinary, and
something extraordinary.
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Parables for
those who are hurting.
00:15:09.19\00:15:11.12
I mean, parables for
those who are weeping,
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who needed someone to
care about them and who needed
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some kind of assurance.
00:15:19.76\00:15:21.12
And His parables are stories
to help us through hard days.
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Hard days.
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And we all have hard days.
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It reminds me of a
story about Chippy.
00:15:28.45\00:15:29.98
I don't know if
you've heard about Chippy.
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He was a parakeet.
00:15:31.44\00:15:32.99
And Chippy was a
happy little parakeet.
00:15:33.68\00:15:35.92
Sitting in his cage
doing what parakeets do.
00:15:36.39\00:15:39.99
And one day, the owner of the
parakeet decided that she should
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clean the cage.
00:15:43.83\00:15:45.49
And not wanting
to make a big mess,
00:15:46.18\00:15:47.92
she got out the vacuum cleaner.
00:15:47.95\00:15:50.22
Get the drift already?
00:15:52.18\00:15:54.02
And so she started
the vacuum cleaner and
00:15:55.34\00:15:57.74
stuck the hose into the
cage, working her way around.
00:15:58.04\00:16:02.92
And all of a
sudden, the phone rage.
00:16:02.95\00:16:04.72
And she reached for
the phone and...whooft.
00:16:05.76\00:16:08.54
She looked and Chippy was gone.
00:16:09.45\00:16:11.53
So she did what any
good owner would do.
00:16:12.28\00:16:14.44
She flipped off the switch
and opened the vacuum bag.
00:16:14.47\00:16:18.55
And there was little
Chippy in the dust and dirt,
00:16:18.58\00:16:22.17
looking down trodden.
00:16:22.20\00:16:24.82
And so she did what
any good owner would do.
00:16:25.19\00:16:27.11
She picked Chippy up
and ran for the faucet.
00:16:27.14\00:16:30.24
She turned on the cold water.
00:16:32.92\00:16:34.95
Cold water all
over little Chippy.
00:16:35.24\00:16:37.55
Now he looks desperate.
00:16:38.23\00:16:40.41
And so now she realizes
what she did, and so she runs,
00:16:41.27\00:16:44.18
she runs for the hair dryer...
00:16:44.21\00:16:46.51
...and blows Chippy dry.
00:16:49.16\00:16:52.30
The reporter that reported on
Chippy called back in a few days
00:16:53.51\00:16:57.08
and says, "Well,
how's Chippy doing?"
00:16:57.11\00:16:58.65
"Well, he doesn't
sing like he use to."
00:16:59.25\00:17:01.76
"I can see why he doesn't."
00:17:03.72\00:17:05.60
"He doesn't act like he use to."
00:17:06.95\00:17:09.30
I mean, have you ever
had one of those Chippy days?
00:17:09.50\00:17:12.17
Come on now.
00:17:12.20\00:17:13.35
Have you ever felt blown over?
00:17:13.78\00:17:15.24
I mean, have you
ever felt in that way?
00:17:15.27\00:17:17.64
You see, that's why
He told these parables.
00:17:17.67\00:17:19.95
For people who were hurting.
00:17:20.05\00:17:21.41
For people who
couldn't get through Monday.
00:17:21.44\00:17:23.50
He was trying to tell them
that there is a future for them.
00:17:23.53\00:17:26.94
He talked about born of faith,
00:17:27.14\00:17:29.37
gave away to a
new birth of faith.
00:17:29.40\00:17:31.70
He took the beauty of
nature to help us discover
00:17:31.73\00:17:34.29
the beauty of His nature;
the nature and character of God.
00:17:34.32\00:17:37.91
He saw peaceful
animals playing and at work.
00:17:39.02\00:17:42.45
He saw harmful animals,
like the eagle swooping down
00:17:42.79\00:17:47.09
with wide spread
wings upon its prey.
00:17:47.12\00:17:50.42
He saw swallows in the air,
which like kings cannot fall
00:17:50.45\00:17:54.00
if God does not
know and will it.
00:17:54.10\00:17:56.46
He saw the treacherous fox.
00:17:57.76\00:17:59.55
And He saw dogs
sitting under tables
00:17:59.88\00:18:01.76
getting the crumbs that fell.
00:18:01.79\00:18:03.45
I mean, all these things
came from the heart of love,
00:18:03.81\00:18:06.63
from the heart and
the mind of God's Son.
00:18:06.66\00:18:10.58
And they became
words of the parables.
00:18:10.82\00:18:13.54
He saw the snake
going through the grass and
00:18:13.95\00:18:16.43
the dark viper hiding in
rocks and stones and in tombs.
00:18:16.46\00:18:20.48
And they became parables,
they became stories, to help us.
00:18:20.51\00:18:24.68
Words of nature
and country became
00:18:24.93\00:18:27.43
the words of the gospel story.
00:18:27.46\00:18:29.03
It was out of that where
men discovered the God of love.
00:18:29.06\00:18:34.58
Jesus Christ was a
man of all seasons.
00:18:35.12\00:18:37.94
Born among shepherds;
00:18:38.92\00:18:40.37
He who was to become
the Shepherd of our souls.
00:18:40.67\00:18:44.36
Knowing the country, He
spoke from the knowledge
00:18:44.68\00:18:47.10
of that country.
00:18:47.40\00:18:48.90
A knowledge about God.
00:18:48.93\00:18:50.65
It was in Galilee out
of the nature, that Jesus
00:18:50.68\00:18:53.33
got His parables, His sermons.
00:18:53.36\00:18:55.06
It will be difficult for
us totally to understand this,
00:18:55.09\00:18:57.69
because we're urbanized.
00:18:57.72\00:18:59.90
Well, at least I am.
00:18:59.93\00:19:01.20
I mean, I don't know
much about the country.
00:19:02.60\00:19:04.88
And, I mean, I've been
urbanized through the years.
00:19:04.91\00:19:08.31
And so I can't
really fully grasp it,
00:19:08.57\00:19:12.12
but I can grasp the
lesson that He taught.
00:19:12.15\00:19:14.37
You see, this
morning we need to understand
00:19:15.85\00:19:17.39
the speech of the country.
00:19:17.42\00:19:18.45
We need to
understand the speech of heaven,
00:19:18.48\00:19:20.59
the parables of
Jesus that He told.
00:19:20.62\00:19:22.65
One such parable was spoken
in the setting of the field.
00:19:22.68\00:19:27.00
And that was the good Samaritan.
00:19:27.03\00:19:29.37
But before I get you
into the 10th chapter,
00:19:30.24\00:19:32.82
we've got to understand
why He told the parable.
00:19:32.85\00:19:35.60
There was a reason
He told the parable.
00:19:35.63\00:19:37.95
And it was a radical reason.
00:19:37.98\00:19:39.70
You see, if you study
over carefully chapter 9,
00:19:39.73\00:19:43.13
John chapter 9, you discover
that there's a conflict.
00:19:43.16\00:19:47.20
He's being confronted by the
Pharisees, the religious people.
00:19:49.00\00:19:51.96
The religious people were always
arguing with Jesus Christ.
00:19:51.99\00:19:55.52
The religious people
always thought they knew
00:19:56.64\00:19:58.30
more than Jesus Christ.
00:19:58.33\00:19:59.84
And the religious
people at that time was the
00:20:00.77\00:20:03.23
hardest to get along with.
00:20:03.26\00:20:04.62
And sometimes even today.
00:20:04.72\00:20:07.23
But anyway,
there was a conflict.
00:20:08.86\00:20:11.75
And you know, He talked
about the good Shepherd,
00:20:11.97\00:20:18.30
because they
were evil shepherds.
00:20:18.33\00:20:20.94
I mean, they were
the false shepherds.
00:20:20.97\00:20:22.93
And the Pharisees and Sadducees,
and those that were leading
00:20:22.96\00:20:26.04
the sheep astray; they
were the false shepherds.
00:20:26.07\00:20:28.64
So He's going to come in with
the story of the good Shepherd
00:20:28.67\00:20:31.19
to show the contrast,
to show the difference.
00:20:31.22\00:20:34.16
They didn't care
anything about the sheep.
00:20:34.19\00:20:36.24
They trampled the
sheep under their feet
00:20:38.54\00:20:42.05
and called them
accursed and cast them out
00:20:42.08\00:20:45.22
whenever they disgraced them.
00:20:45.25\00:20:48.26
They had self-appointed
assumption of leadership.
00:20:48.29\00:20:50.72
They lived in an ivory
tower, those false shepherds.
00:20:50.75\00:20:54.59
I mean, they
loved nothing better
00:20:54.62\00:20:56.46
than trampling the people
and keeping them subject to
00:20:56.49\00:20:59.21
ridiculous
traditions and cultural things.
00:20:59.24\00:21:02.36
I mean, laws.
00:21:02.39\00:21:03.42
I mean, law upon law upon law.
00:21:03.45\00:21:05.27
Ten commandments
became two-hundred and fifty.
00:21:05.30\00:21:07.66
And this careless attitude
is indicated there in chapter 9.
00:21:10.23\00:21:15.93
By the way, they dealt with
a beggar who was born blind.
00:21:16.79\00:21:20.95
Remember, He
healed the blind beggar.
00:21:20.98\00:21:23.02
And the blind beggar was
so thrilled with the power
00:21:23.05\00:21:25.22
that he could see now.
00:21:25.25\00:21:26.48
And the
Pharisees hated it so much
00:21:26.51\00:21:28.86
they didn't care
that the blind man saw.
00:21:28.98\00:21:31.70
They didn't rejoice that God
had performed this great miracle
00:21:31.73\00:21:34.94
so the blind man could see.
00:21:34.97\00:21:36.81
They didn't care about
that at all, not at all.
00:21:36.84\00:21:39.30
All they cared
about was to trick Jesus,
00:21:40.94\00:21:43.52
to corner Jesus,
to make fun of Jesus,
00:21:43.55\00:21:47.16
to try to defeat Jesus.
00:21:47.19\00:21:49.62
In fact, they got so mad at
the blind man who was healed,
00:21:49.65\00:21:54.82
they unsynagogued him.
00:21:55.06\00:21:57.75
Well in other words, they
kicked him out of the synagogue.
00:21:57.78\00:22:01.42
They didn't care about a man.
00:22:01.85\00:22:03.37
They only cared about what they
could say against Jesus Christ,
00:22:03.40\00:22:09.10
and the conflict
in their theology.
00:22:09.13\00:22:12.19
And their only determination
was not to help anybody,
00:22:12.46\00:22:14.97
but they were
determined to point out
00:22:15.17\00:22:17.28
to get rid of Jesus Christ.
00:22:17.31\00:22:18.81
That's why chapter 10.
00:22:18.84\00:22:20.63
Because He's in
conflict, radically in conflict,
00:22:20.66\00:22:23.89
with the
religious people of His day.
00:22:23.92\00:22:25.88
They wanted to get rid of Him.
00:22:26.73\00:22:28.64
And He was the issue because
He threatened their security
00:22:29.18\00:22:32.74
of the ivory tower.
00:22:32.77\00:22:34.32
So these false
teachers, these self-appointed,
00:22:34.35\00:22:37.43
didn't care about the people.
00:22:37.46\00:22:39.57
And they were
the false shepherds.
00:22:39.60\00:22:41.27
And Jesus Christ
is going to show us
00:22:41.30\00:22:43.25
how a good shepherd acts,
00:22:43.28\00:22:45.23
how the true Shepherd acts.
00:22:46.46\00:22:48.48
And by the way, that shepherd
is an Old Testament concept.
00:22:49.23\00:22:52.22
In the passage, Jesus
moves to introduce Himself
00:22:52.25\00:22:54.87
as the only true
Shepherd in Israel.
00:22:54.90\00:22:57.01
He is the good Shepherd
who really loves and really
00:22:57.04\00:22:59.94
cares for the sheep.
00:22:59.97\00:23:01.07
And they are the false shepherds
who care only for themselves.
00:23:01.10\00:23:04.09
That's the conflict.
00:23:04.12\00:23:05.53
And that brings
us into chapter 10.
00:23:06.46\00:23:08.47
We need to try and understand
the speech of the country,
00:23:09.69\00:23:12.22
the speech of heaven,
the parables that Jesus told.
00:23:12.25\00:23:15.24
And here in John 10, I'm going
to begin reading at verse 1.
00:23:15.27\00:23:20.23
And notice, the
hireling, but not for the sheep.
00:24:45.64\00:24:51.30
Now here we have the story.
00:24:54.27\00:24:55.56
We have this story.
00:24:56.54\00:24:57.96
Remember that the minds
of the Galileans had been
00:24:58.48\00:25:01.40
prepared for the
truth for centuries;
00:25:01.43\00:25:03.48
Messiah as a Shepherd.
00:25:03.82\00:25:05.63
This was not new.
00:25:05.80\00:25:07.14
Why, the psalms, David talked
about the Messiah as Shepherd.
00:25:07.17\00:25:11.55
Isaiah spoke
about the good Shepherd,
00:25:11.72\00:25:14.49
the Messiah as Shepherd.
00:25:14.79\00:25:16.56
And even Ezekiel talks about
this Messiah, this Shepherd;
00:25:16.80\00:25:21.67
the good Shepherd.
00:25:21.70\00:25:23.04
The shepherds were
prominent in his life.
00:25:23.07\00:25:25.33
The first to receive
the glorious announcement,
00:25:25.36\00:25:28.92
the wondrous birth,
there upon the hillside
00:25:28.95\00:25:31.79
were the shepherds.
00:25:31.82\00:25:32.88
And the angels sang,
"Glory to God in the highest."
00:25:32.91\00:25:35.74
It was the shepherds who
first saw the good Shepherd.
00:25:35.77\00:25:40.03
There it was.
00:25:40.89\00:25:42.43
And so, wondrous birth.
00:25:42.63\00:25:44.03
You see, as a
good Shepherd, He died.
00:25:44.06\00:25:46.39
John 10 verse 10 and verse
11, the Bible tells us that
00:25:46.58\00:25:51.25
the good Shepherd
died for His sheep.
00:25:51.28\00:25:54.85
"The thief cometh not
but to steal and to kill
00:25:54.88\00:25:59.10
and to destroy.
00:25:59.40\00:26:00.82
I am come that they may
have life, and that they
00:26:00.85\00:26:03.26
might have it more abundantly.
00:26:03.29\00:26:05.14
I am the good Shepherd.
00:26:05.17\00:26:06.95
And the good Shepherd
giveth His life for His sheep."
00:26:06.98\00:26:09.82
As the good Shepherd, He
rose again from the dead.
00:26:10.46\00:26:13.53
The Bible says, verse
20, "And now the God of peace
00:26:13.79\00:26:17.50
that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus Christ,
00:26:17.53\00:26:20.45
that great
Shepherd of the sheep,
00:26:20.48\00:26:22.11
through the blood of
the everlasting covenant,"
00:26:22.14\00:26:24.38
or testament.
00:26:24.94\00:26:26.29
Hebrews 13 verse 20.
00:26:26.32\00:26:28.23
As the chief Shepherd,
He will return to reward
00:26:29.18\00:26:33.10
under shepherds who are faithful
for the care of His flock.
00:26:33.13\00:26:36.91
That's 1 Peter.
00:26:36.94\00:26:38.12
"For ye were as sheep going
astray, but are now returned
00:26:38.15\00:26:41.41
unto the Shepherd,
the Bishop of your souls."
00:26:41.44\00:26:44.12
It's been suggested
that "shepherd" was always
00:26:45.42\00:26:48.06
a symbol of the king.
00:26:48.09\00:26:49.66
In the Old Testament,
and now in the New Testament.
00:26:49.69\00:26:52.11
Jesus did not mix metaphors.
00:26:52.14\00:26:54.34
And when He exhorted the
disciples to be of good courage,
00:26:54.37\00:26:57.02
"Fear not, little
flock," He said, "for it's
00:26:57.05\00:26:59.95
your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom."
00:26:59.98\00:27:03.15
The kingdom and the king.
00:27:03.37\00:27:05.66
Flock, father, kingdom; these
three words or figure of speech,
00:27:05.69\00:27:10.67
merge and
constitute the idea of a king,
00:27:10.70\00:27:14.06
recognized in the Middle East.
00:27:14.09\00:27:15.79
The idea of king as a
shepherd of his flock,
00:27:15.82\00:27:18.35
he is the father of his family,
00:27:18.63\00:27:20.31
and he is the
ruler of the nations.
00:27:20.41\00:27:22.31
That's the king.
00:27:22.34\00:27:23.53
And so the king;
connected to the shepherd.
00:27:24.07\00:27:27.52
And that's why Jesus said...
00:27:27.98\00:27:29.53
Now all these
applications merge in Him.
00:27:33.66\00:27:37.39
Here we have the
kingship of Jesus.
00:27:37.42\00:27:39.19
Only as Jesus becomes
Shepherd can He become King.
00:27:39.22\00:27:42.53
Only as He's
Shepherd can He become King
00:27:42.67\00:27:44.98
to sit upon the
throne of your heart.
00:27:45.01\00:27:46.99
Only as Jesus
becomes your Shepherd
00:27:47.02\00:27:48.92
can He rule over you
and over your passions
00:27:48.95\00:27:51.90
and your pleasures and
your propensities to evil.
00:27:51.93\00:27:54.70
Only as a Shepherd King can
He bring you under His control.
00:27:54.73\00:27:59.21
Do you know Him
as Shepherd King?
00:28:00.05\00:28:02.35
Is He ruling and
reigning in your heart,
00:28:02.76\00:28:04.98
ruling and reigning
in your life right now?
00:28:05.01\00:28:07.68
That's the
question we need to ask.
00:28:07.71\00:28:10.41
As I read that
passage of Scripture,
00:28:10.66\00:28:12.99
I saw four things
that leaped out at me.
00:28:13.02\00:28:16.53
As a Shepherd,
He owns His sheep.
00:28:17.08\00:28:20.73
He knows His sheep.
00:28:21.43\00:28:23.29
He leads His sheep.
00:28:23.83\00:28:25.60
And finally, He gives
up His life for His sheep.
00:28:26.15\00:28:30.01
Now let's look at that together.
00:28:30.60\00:28:32.15
First of all, He owns his sheep.
00:28:32.18\00:28:34.10
Jesus used the pronoun
of personal possession.
00:28:34.53\00:28:39.06
When speaking, He
says His own sheep.
00:28:39.09\00:28:41.92
You are not just
somebody, you are His own sheep.
00:28:42.04\00:28:46.36
I'm not just Ron
Halvorsen, a scraggly sheep;
00:28:46.39\00:28:49.44
I am His sheep.
00:28:49.47\00:28:50.88
He owns me.
00:28:50.91\00:28:52.23
Wow. He owns me.
00:28:52.73\00:28:55.68
Phillip Keller writes
so much about the Shepherd.
00:28:55.71\00:28:59.03
If you ever get a
chance, get some of the books by
00:28:59.30\00:29:01.52
Phillip Keller on
the Shepherd and sheep.
00:29:01.55\00:29:04.00
He describes an incident in
his early life as a shepherd,
00:29:04.03\00:29:07.71
because he was a shepherd.
00:29:07.74\00:29:09.20
Let me share it with you.
00:29:10.29\00:29:11.64
When just a young man, he
bought his first thirty ewes.
00:29:12.45\00:29:15.93
He describes how he and his
neighbor were sitting on the
00:29:16.80\00:29:19.47
corral rail that
enclosed the sheep pen,
00:29:19.50\00:29:22.95
admiring the
choice of the sheep.
00:29:23.05\00:29:25.42
They were strong and well bred.
00:29:25.45\00:29:27.99
And he owned them.
00:29:28.02\00:29:29.39
I mean, he had purchased them.
00:29:29.68\00:29:32.12
He was proud to
be a sheep owner.
00:29:32.15\00:29:35.49
He then had to take the killing
knife and he had to put the mark
00:29:36.32\00:29:41.73
in the ear of all thirty sheep.
00:29:42.69\00:29:46.84
You see, the shepherd...
00:29:47.09\00:29:48.20
And every
shepherd has his own mark.
00:29:48.23\00:29:50.10
And he marks
the ear of the sheep
00:29:50.13\00:29:52.45
so that they
might be distinctive.
00:29:52.48\00:29:54.26
They might know that
it's the sheep of Mr. Keller.
00:29:54.29\00:29:59.14
They could tell just by
the mark, the marking, the sign
00:29:59.39\00:30:03.48
on the ear of this sheep.
00:30:03.51\00:30:07.01
Wow.
00:30:07.59\00:30:08.66
By the way, there's an exciting
parallel in the Old Testament.
00:30:09.40\00:30:11.92
When a slave in a Hebrew family
decided to join with that family
00:30:12.76\00:30:16.15
and live free with
that family forever,
00:30:16.18\00:30:18.71
or for as long as life,
the owner would take the slave
00:30:18.74\00:30:22.60
to the door post and then he
would put his ear against it,
00:30:22.63\00:30:26.10
and he would drill
a hole in the earlobe.
00:30:26.13\00:30:28.34
And that would signify,
that would seal him forever
00:30:29.40\00:30:32.74
in the family.
00:30:32.77\00:30:33.92
He was now free, not a slave,
but he was one of the family.
00:30:33.95\00:30:37.78
That's what Jesus
Christ does for God's children
00:30:37.81\00:30:40.27
in Revelation when God
puts His seal upon His sheep,
00:30:40.30\00:30:43.78
when God puts His
sign upon His sheep.
00:30:43.81\00:30:46.16
He knows His sheep.
00:30:46.19\00:30:47.55
He knows the call of the sheep.
00:30:47.58\00:30:49.41
Thank God for that.
00:30:49.44\00:30:51.41
Thank God for that.
00:30:52.11\00:30:53.63
I mean, wow.
Belonging to the Shepherd.
00:30:54.77\00:30:58.95
He owns us.
00:30:59.23\00:31:00.47
How exciting to know that we've
been purchased by the Shepherd,
00:31:00.50\00:31:04.14
we've been
pardoned by the Shepherd,
00:31:04.17\00:31:06.12
and we've been preserved
forever by the Shepherd;
00:31:06.15\00:31:09.78
by our owner, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
00:31:09.81\00:31:13.20
How were we purchased?
00:31:14.05\00:31:15.42
Well the Bible makes it clear.
00:31:16.01\00:31:17.38
We've been
purchased, not by money.
00:31:17.41\00:31:19.74
We've been purchased by blood.
00:31:20.08\00:31:22.08
In 1 John chapter 1 verse 7, the
Bible teaches us unmistakably.
00:31:22.59\00:31:28.18
Our sin requires purchase.
00:31:39.06\00:31:41.44
We desire, we need to be
purchased to be bought back.
00:31:41.47\00:31:45.13
I mean, here we are lost.
00:31:45.16\00:31:47.01
And Jesus Christ
comes, sheds His blood.
00:31:47.04\00:31:50.02
This is the price that God paid,
that the good Shepherd paid,
00:31:50.05\00:31:53.69
for His sheep.
00:31:53.72\00:31:54.88
Now you know why I'm so thankful
00:31:56.47\00:31:58.33
to know the good Shepherd.
00:31:59.09\00:32:00.47
Now you know why I
love to preach God's
00:32:01.04\00:32:03.43
message from the Bible.
00:32:03.46\00:32:05.10
Now you know why Jesus
Christ is exalted when I preach.
00:32:05.13\00:32:09.00
Because Jesus
Christ purchased...
00:32:09.03\00:32:11.16
It was not the
theology of my church.
00:32:11.19\00:32:14.55
It was not the
doctrine of my church.
00:32:14.58\00:32:16.68
It was Jesus in my
church that purchased me
00:32:16.71\00:32:21.29
and paid the price.
00:32:21.59\00:32:23.13
Our sin
requires to be purchased.
00:32:23.53\00:32:26.05
And the blood of
Christ; He pays with blood.
00:32:26.53\00:32:28.61
Secondly, I've
been pardoned by grace.
00:32:28.64\00:32:32.43
We need to be
pardoned from our sin.
00:32:33.00\00:32:34.90
The Bible says, "For by grace
are ye saved through faith;
00:32:34.93\00:32:37.15
and that not of yourselves.
00:32:37.35\00:32:38.79
It is the gift of God."
00:32:38.82\00:32:40.39
Grace is the
unmerited favor of God.
00:32:40.77\00:32:43.38
The Shepherd shows the
unmerited favor of God.
00:32:43.41\00:32:47.05
By the way, grace, the gift;
00:32:47.08\00:32:48.98
the value of any gift is
in the love of the giver.
00:32:49.30\00:32:53.15
I've told this story
before a hundred times.
00:32:53.92\00:32:57.38
It gets better with the telling.
00:32:57.41\00:32:59.01
But it was years ago
when I was a young preacher.
00:33:00.63\00:33:03.00
And at one time I was a young
preacher, believe it or not.
00:33:03.10\00:33:06.00
And I had a boy and a
girl; Ronnie and Diane.
00:33:06.79\00:33:10.23
And there was a
law in our house.
00:33:11.22\00:33:13.14
And that law said that
when Daddy was in his office
00:33:13.47\00:33:16.77
studying the Bible
and writing his sermons,
00:33:16.80\00:33:19.02
you're not to disturb him.
00:33:19.05\00:33:20.81
That was the law of
the Medes and Persians.
00:33:20.84\00:33:22.94
Fixed in cement.
00:33:23.84\00:33:25.71
One day I was
studying the Bible and the door
00:33:26.76\00:33:29.74
was open just a crack.
00:33:29.77\00:33:30.93
And I heard a noise at
the door, and I turned.
00:33:30.96\00:33:32.60
And there was my Diane
looking in through the crack.
00:33:32.63\00:33:35.54
Beautiful.
00:33:36.63\00:33:37.96
I mean, blond hair
and blue eyes sparkling.
00:33:37.99\00:33:42.89
Just picture me
and then picture her.
00:33:43.30\00:33:45.78
I mean, beautiful, this girl.
00:33:45.81\00:33:47.63
And I said, "Diane."
00:33:49.96\00:33:51.69
And with that
she started to run.
00:33:52.27\00:33:53.93
She remembered the law.
00:33:53.96\00:33:55.44
And I said, "Diane,
stop." And she stopped.
00:33:55.64\00:33:57.94
You see, in those days when
you said, "Stop," they stopped.
00:33:57.97\00:34:01.28
Now we have all kinds of books
about it, and no one stops.
00:34:01.48\00:34:05.65
Time out.
00:34:06.22\00:34:07.50
Hey, I wish I had
time out when I was a kid.
00:34:07.53\00:34:10.14
My daddy would say, "Time
out," boom, and it was time out.
00:34:10.17\00:34:14.36
And so I said,
"Honey, come here."
00:34:16.11\00:34:18.39
And she came as far as the door.
00:34:18.42\00:34:19.84
And there it
was, the law, I mean.
00:34:20.04\00:34:21.95
And where the law was,
grace did much more abound.
00:34:21.98\00:34:24.40
I said, "Come on
in," and she bounded in.
00:34:24.43\00:34:26.67
And then she said something.
00:34:27.73\00:34:29.41
She had
something behind her back.
00:34:29.51\00:34:30.85
She said, "Daddy, I
have a gift for you."
00:34:30.88\00:34:33.47
Now you know the
law went out the window.
00:34:34.53\00:34:36.44
Come on now.
00:34:36.47\00:34:37.86
I said, "Well
Honey, give me the gift."
00:34:38.51\00:34:39.93
She says, "Oh no, guess."
00:34:39.96\00:34:41.81
Have you played the game?
00:34:42.02\00:34:43.46
And you know, she
wanted to play a game.
00:34:44.48\00:34:46.32
I could, and so
I imagined, I said,
00:34:46.35\00:34:48.87
"Well Honey, is it a new car?"
00:34:48.90\00:34:50.85
And she laughed and giggled,
and her blue eyes sparkled.
00:34:50.88\00:34:54.00
"No, daddy."
00:34:54.46\00:34:55.52
I said, "Well, is it a new
boat? I want to get a boat."
00:34:55.76\00:34:58.08
And she looked
and said, "No, daddy."
00:34:58.49\00:35:00.68
I went on and on, all
the things I wanted to have
00:35:00.88\00:35:03.00
and I couldn't have.
00:35:03.03\00:35:04.16
Finally I said, "I
can't take it any more, honey.
00:35:04.27\00:35:06.67
Give me my gift."
00:35:06.70\00:35:07.73
And she took it
out and there it was.
00:35:07.76\00:35:09.48
A picture of a
lamb made with noodles.
00:35:09.85\00:35:12.86
A noodle lamb.
00:35:12.89\00:35:14.28
I took my best K-
Mart painting off the wall
00:35:15.53\00:35:18.42
and I put up a noodle lamb.
00:35:18.97\00:35:21.18
The value of any gift is
in the love of the giver.
00:35:21.54\00:35:26.27
And that's the Shepherd.
00:35:27.62\00:35:29.46
He gives up His
life, and He owns me.
00:35:30.16\00:35:34.86
And He owns you.
00:35:35.58\00:35:36.93
But secondly, in verse
14, He knows His sheep.
00:35:37.90\00:35:42.28
We never need to
feel disappointed.
00:35:43.28\00:35:45.23
Like the young British student
who was waiting to see the king,
00:35:45.26\00:35:48.95
King Edward VII, with
all the other children,
00:35:48.98\00:35:51.47
thousands of children gathered.
00:35:51.50\00:35:53.18
And the king
walked by in splendor.
00:35:53.21\00:35:55.80
And they were
watching and cheering.
00:35:55.83\00:35:58.45
And the king walked
right by the little girl.
00:35:58.48\00:36:01.15
And when he got by
she started to cry.
00:36:01.38\00:36:04.50
And the teacher said to
her, "Well what's wrong, honey?"
00:36:04.53\00:36:07.26
She says, "Well the
king didn't see me."
00:36:07.29\00:36:11.09
The king did not see me.
00:36:13.00\00:36:15.16
King Edward VII couldn't notice
very little child in the crowd.
00:36:15.83\00:36:20.63
But the good Shepherd sees you.
00:36:21.31\00:36:25.09
And He loves you.
00:36:27.35\00:36:28.68
And it's interesting to me
that the mountain shepherds
00:36:30.06\00:36:33.98
and their trained dogs know
a single sheep among hundreds.
00:36:34.01\00:36:37.71
But the miracle is that
the sheep knows the shepherd.
00:36:38.69\00:36:42.32
They hear the shepherd's voice.
00:36:44.00\00:36:45.80
You see, it isn't
like here in America.
00:36:46.00\00:36:48.47
We drive the cattle.
00:36:48.50\00:36:50.61
We drive the sheep.
00:36:50.71\00:36:52.61
I mean, with lariat and
horse and, "Whoa," yelling.
00:36:52.72\00:36:56.59
And they're
pushing, pushing, pushing.
00:36:56.81\00:36:59.83
But not so in the Bible lands.
00:36:59.86\00:37:01.60
You see, they all
mingled together, all the sheep
00:37:01.75\00:37:03.90
from all the different
shepherds on the hills.
00:37:03.93\00:37:06.51
A 35 mile spread of
grass for the sheep in Israel.
00:37:06.54\00:37:12.25
And the shepherds would call.
00:37:13.34\00:37:15.28
And the sheep would
untangle themselves,
00:37:15.79\00:37:18.85
each going to their shepherd.
00:37:19.02\00:37:22.00
Wow.
00:37:22.03\00:37:23.10
Do you hear the voice
of Jesus when He calls?
00:37:23.75\00:37:27.92
I mean, each shepherd; the
shepherd knows the history,
00:37:28.81\00:37:33.50
it knows the
defects, the temperament,
00:37:34.25\00:37:38.11
the tastes of his sheep.
00:37:38.87\00:37:40.21
And so does Jesus Christ.
00:37:40.94\00:37:42.47
We may not sin
alike, but alike we all sin.
00:37:42.50\00:37:46.29
Fitting that Jesus is
called the good Shepherd.
00:37:48.03\00:37:50.19
Our friend, I
mean it's wonderful.
00:37:50.39\00:37:52.68
He owns us, He
knows us, He leads us.
00:37:52.89\00:37:56.85
He leads us.
00:37:57.20\00:37:58.47
During a Sunday class
the questions was asked,
00:37:58.50\00:38:01.20
"In your time of discouragement,
what's your favorite Scripture?"
00:38:01.39\00:38:04.90
One young man raised his
hand and said, "The Lord is my
00:38:05.79\00:38:08.44
Shepherd, I shall not want."
00:38:08.47\00:38:09.68
Sat down.
00:38:09.71\00:38:10.74
A middle aged woman said, "God
is my refuge and my strength,
00:38:11.04\00:38:14.84
a very present help in
time of trouble," Psalm 46:1.
00:38:14.87\00:38:18.82
Another woman said, "In the
world you'll have tribulation;
00:38:19.02\00:38:21.86
but be of good cheer,
I've overcome the world,"
00:38:21.89\00:38:24.22
John 16:33-35.
00:38:24.25\00:38:27.06
Then old Mr. John, 80 years old,
with a head of white hair and
00:38:27.63\00:38:33.42
dark black skin, stood up
and said his favorite verse was,
00:38:33.45\00:38:38.31
"And it came to pass."
00:38:38.56\00:38:40.61
Oh.
00:38:41.36\00:38:42.50
"Eighty-five times
in the Bible," he said,
00:38:42.93\00:38:45.67
"'And it came to pass.'"
00:38:46.18\00:38:49.33
The class started to laugh.
00:38:49.36\00:38:51.56
I mean, thinking that old John
had lack of memory, perhaps.
00:38:52.13\00:38:57.09
And then he said, "When
I was thirty I lost my job,
00:38:59.00\00:39:03.63
with six hungry children's
mouths to feed and a wife.
00:39:03.66\00:39:07.83
I didn't know
how I would make it.
00:39:08.51\00:39:10.37
At forty, my eldest son
was killed overseas in the war.
00:39:11.19\00:39:14.23
It knocked me down.
00:39:14.74\00:39:16.17
At fifty, my house
was burned to the ground.
00:39:17.02\00:39:19.59
There was nothing left.
00:39:20.64\00:39:22.31
Nothing left.
00:39:23.30\00:39:24.52
At sixty, my wife
of 40 years got cancer.
00:39:24.93\00:39:29.12
And for one year we
prayed and wept together.
00:39:30.06\00:39:33.75
And she died at 65.
00:39:34.67\00:39:36.56
The agony I went through
in each of these situations,
00:39:37.55\00:39:40.77
unbelievable.
00:39:40.80\00:39:42.02
I wondered where was God.
00:39:42.34\00:39:44.07
But each time I looked in
the Bible and saw one of those
00:39:44.49\00:39:47.19
eighty-five verses,
'And it came to pass,'
00:39:47.22\00:39:50.57
I felt that God was
telling me that in my pain
00:39:50.60\00:39:54.17
and in my circumstances
it was going to pass
00:39:54.20\00:39:58.61
and God would get us through it.
00:39:59.81\00:40:02.09
God would get us through it."
00:40:04.02\00:40:05.49
Thirdly, the good
Shepherd leads us.
00:40:06.73\00:40:08.91
It'd be hard for most of
us to fully understand that,
00:40:10.12\00:40:13.57
because we, you
know, drive the cattle.
00:40:13.60\00:40:16.12
He leads.
00:40:16.87\00:40:18.30
And He leads us
to green pastures.
00:40:18.33\00:40:22.74
The problem in so many churches,
they're prodding people.
00:40:22.77\00:40:27.44
They're pushing people.
00:40:28.22\00:40:29.79
I mean, they're forcing people.
00:40:30.18\00:40:32.75
Forcing their
own ideas on people.
00:40:33.01\00:40:35.15
Forcing their own
standards on people.
00:40:35.18\00:40:37.36
Pushing them and pushing them.
00:40:37.46\00:40:39.17
Jesus never, the good
Shepherd, pushed them.
00:40:39.20\00:40:42.12
He loved them.
00:40:42.15\00:40:43.62
He loved them.
00:40:46.99\00:40:48.13
He's always up front leading.
00:40:49.24\00:40:50.94
He climbs before us.
00:40:51.99\00:40:54.01
Over the terrain, the rough
terrain, He climbs before us.
00:40:54.71\00:40:57.89
Never prodding, never shouting,
never forcing, but leading us.
00:40:57.99\00:41:01.47
How fitting Jesus is
called the good Shepherd.
00:41:01.50\00:41:04.24
He leads us.
00:41:04.27\00:41:05.89
When I first started
out as a young evangelist,
00:41:06.31\00:41:08.54
I've got to say,
I prodded people.
00:41:09.25\00:41:12.60
I'm sorry for saying it.
00:41:13.32\00:41:14.95
I was so young
and so enthusiastic
00:41:15.26\00:41:18.06
and so much wanting
the people to be saved.
00:41:18.09\00:41:20.88
I was like a
cowboy, not like a shepherd.
00:41:21.20\00:41:23.96
But the older I get, the
more I understand this truth.
00:41:24.72\00:41:29.71
The Lord is my Shepherd.
00:41:30.59\00:41:32.35
And He leads.
00:41:33.11\00:41:34.51
Gently.
00:41:35.05\00:41:36.37
He leads us to
eternal life and health.
00:41:37.47\00:41:40.32
He is my Shepherd.
00:41:40.94\00:41:44.96
And He does help
us in time of need.
00:41:45.16\00:41:47.41
Some years ago,
14 years ago in fact,
00:41:48.61\00:41:51.14
I woke up in the middle of the
night and a voice came and said,
00:41:51.58\00:41:55.44
"Get a colonoscopy."
00:41:55.47\00:41:56.95
I thought it was a
nightmare. Come on, I mean.
00:41:58.10\00:42:00.66
I mean, I thought
I had indigestion.
00:42:01.00\00:42:03.46
A colonoscopy? I
went back to sleep.
00:42:03.49\00:42:05.82
Two nights later
the Lord woke me up
00:42:05.85\00:42:09.11
and said, "Ron,
get a colonoscopy."
00:42:10.15\00:42:12.79
His voice.
00:42:12.82\00:42:14.12
So I called my
doctor the next day, I said,
00:42:15.05\00:42:16.76
"Doc, I need a colonoscopy."
00:42:16.79\00:42:18.10
He said, "Well, why?"
And he named these symptoms.
00:42:18.13\00:42:20.54
I didn't have
symptoms. I was jumping fences.
00:42:20.57\00:42:22.83
A little smaller now,
but I was jumping fences.
00:42:22.86\00:42:26.03
And I said,
"Well, the Lord told me."
00:42:27.41\00:42:29.69
And he said, "Well, do
you have something else?"
00:42:29.72\00:42:32.98
I said, "No, I don't
have a better idea than that."
00:42:33.01\00:42:35.23
The Lord showed me.
00:42:35.26\00:42:36.44
So he did a colonoscopy.
00:42:36.97\00:42:38.02
Found a very aggressive cancer.
00:42:38.05\00:42:39.79
Up on the right
side beyond the appendix.
00:42:40.48\00:42:43.72
The worse place you could have
it and the worse type of cancer.
00:42:44.61\00:42:47.72
In fact, later my
doctor, and also the oncologist,
00:42:47.93\00:42:51.73
told me that 90 some percent of
the people die from that cancer.
00:42:51.76\00:42:56.07
And so I had surgery.
00:42:57.03\00:42:59.04
I went to the oncologist,
he came out shaking his head.
00:42:59.58\00:43:01.84
"I've never seen
this," he said, "in all the
00:43:01.87\00:43:03.25
years I've practiced.
00:43:03.28\00:43:04.31
You don't need
radiation, you don't need chemo.
00:43:04.39\00:43:07.27
You can go home, you're cured."
00:43:07.75\00:43:10.72
I said, "Doc, do you
believe in miracles?"
00:43:11.93\00:43:13.49
He said, "Yes."
00:43:13.52\00:43:14.58
And that was a miracle.
00:43:15.67\00:43:17.10
He leads me through.
00:43:17.44\00:43:18.87
When I first
heard that, you know,
00:43:18.93\00:43:20.60
that's a hard thing to hear.
00:43:20.63\00:43:22.86
And I sat up in bed
that night and I said, "Lord,
00:43:23.64\00:43:25.93
whatever happens, I'll be
faithful to You to the end.
00:43:26.13\00:43:30.86
Because You are my
Shepherd, and I have no fear.
00:43:31.05\00:43:34.64
You leadeth me
beside the still waters.
00:43:34.67\00:43:37.27
And I'm here now.
00:43:37.30\00:43:38.66
Take Your sheep.
00:43:39.68\00:43:40.92
Bring me to
safety into the fold."
00:43:41.64\00:43:43.92
And surely, a few weeks
later I was out preaching
00:43:44.45\00:43:48.06
the Word of God.
00:43:48.40\00:43:49.43
Listen to me.
00:43:49.46\00:43:50.55
When we lie down on
stones of trial and persecution,
00:43:51.24\00:43:54.93
I mean, when our sickness,
our bodies are racked with
00:43:54.96\00:43:58.03
sickness and pain, He
is still our Shepherd.
00:43:58.06\00:44:01.04
He knew what it was like.
00:44:02.58\00:44:04.63
In all points
tempted like as we are.
00:44:04.66\00:44:06.69
Keep in mind that the Shepherd
has been there before you,
00:44:07.47\00:44:09.89
the valley of death.
00:44:09.92\00:44:10.95
He's been there first.
00:44:10.98\00:44:12.89
And He leads His sheep.
00:44:14.23\00:44:15.80
Thieves and robbers
may call the sheep by name,
00:44:16.28\00:44:19.05
try to imitate
the Shepherd's voice,
00:44:19.08\00:44:21.55
but through long usage
and intimacy with the Shepherd
00:44:21.58\00:44:25.01
you'll know the true voice.
00:44:25.04\00:44:26.83
People, listen, as you
watch this program you'll say,
00:44:26.86\00:44:29.22
"I want to know the
truth. I want to know..."
00:44:29.25\00:44:31.03
Well listen for
the true Shepherd.
00:44:31.13\00:44:32.93
Get acquainted
with Jesus Christ.
00:44:34.63\00:44:36.86
Study the life of Christ.
00:44:37.62\00:44:39.14
Pray to Him, understand Him,
00:44:39.17\00:44:41.79
and you'll hear His voice.
00:44:41.82\00:44:43.16
And with all the other voices
clamoring for your attention,
00:44:43.19\00:44:46.12
you'll hear His voice.
00:44:46.15\00:44:47.34
And He will lead
you through the robbers
00:44:47.37\00:44:50.11
that try to rob
you of your dignity
00:44:50.14\00:44:52.06
and rob you of the truth.
00:44:52.09\00:44:53.47
And you will find the
way in green pastures.
00:44:53.50\00:44:56.92
He owns His sheep.
00:44:57.51\00:44:58.78
He knows His sheep.
00:44:59.76\00:45:01.27
He leads His sheep.
00:45:01.97\00:45:03.40
But fourthly, He lays
down His life for His sheep.
00:45:04.07\00:45:08.36
Wow.
00:45:09.54\00:45:10.84
Charles Dickens wrote a book
called, The Tale of Two Cities.
00:45:11.49\00:45:15.55
It presents a
classic illustration of this.
00:45:16.29\00:45:18.57
Set during the
French Revolution,
00:45:18.60\00:45:20.50
it's a story of two friends.
00:45:20.53\00:45:22.85
Two buddies; Charles
Darnay and Sidney Carton.
00:45:22.99\00:45:28.62
Darnay is a young Frenchman
who has been thrown in a dungeon
00:45:29.80\00:45:32.54
to await the guillotine.
00:45:32.57\00:45:34.24
Carton is a wasted English
lawyer whose life has been
00:45:35.04\00:45:38.53
nothing but
careless sin, reprobation.
00:45:38.56\00:45:44.26
In a beautiful allegory
of Christ's atonement for us,
00:45:44.89\00:45:47.99
Carton slips into the dungeon.
00:45:48.10\00:45:50.28
Look at this.
00:45:50.31\00:45:51.34
He exchanges his
clothes with the prisoner,
00:45:52.19\00:45:55.04
allowing Darnay to
escape to go back to his family.
00:45:55.65\00:45:59.37
And the next morning,
Sidney Carton makes his
00:45:59.40\00:46:01.98
way up the steps that
leads to the guillotine.
00:46:02.01\00:46:04.96
This is the same
love that God has shown.
00:46:05.31\00:46:08.49
He wrapped
Himself in human flesh.
00:46:08.52\00:46:11.09
He walked up to the
guillotine, the cross.
00:46:11.12\00:46:13.69
And He died knowing and
loving and caring for His sheep.
00:46:13.72\00:46:18.20
Hallelujah. Praise God.
00:46:18.23\00:46:20.72
He paid the price for His sheep.
00:46:22.41\00:46:27.72
He lays down His life.
00:46:28.15\00:46:30.58
Twice over He uses that phrase.
00:46:30.98\00:46:34.07
How sweet is that story, but
how radical is that statement,
00:46:34.75\00:46:39.02
"I lay down my life."
00:46:39.05\00:46:40.87
Twice over He used, "I
have power to take it again."
00:46:40.90\00:46:44.33
The text is powerful.
00:46:46.76\00:46:48.05
I mean, it's radical.
00:46:48.08\00:46:49.32
A revelation of the
willingness of Jesus
00:46:49.42\00:46:52.01
to sacrifice His
all for His sheep.
00:46:52.04\00:46:54.22
He laid down His life.
00:46:54.25\00:46:56.00
He gave it up,
He surrendered it.
00:46:56.03\00:46:58.12
Surrendered it.
00:46:59.06\00:47:00.22
It was not taken
by Roman legionnaires.
00:47:02.28\00:47:04.45
It was not taken by Caiaphas.
00:47:07.06\00:47:10.21
It was not taken
by Jewish rabble.
00:47:11.40\00:47:13.36
It was voluntarily
given, the life of Jesus Christ
00:47:14.47\00:47:16.85
the Shepherd.
00:47:16.88\00:47:17.98
And there's two meanings
to the laying down of a life.
00:47:18.66\00:47:21.43
First of all, laying down a life
is a pledge; paying the price.
00:47:22.38\00:47:26.10
And that's
exactly what Jesus did.
00:47:26.13\00:47:27.95
For without the
shedding of blood,
00:47:28.53\00:47:29.76
there's no remission of sin.
00:47:29.79\00:47:31.36
And since we're all
sinners, we need that blood
00:47:32.40\00:47:34.80
for the remission of sin.
00:47:34.83\00:47:36.25
And so He
willingly sheds His blood,
00:47:37.02\00:47:39.58
willingly lays down His life;
00:47:39.61\00:47:42.00
and in a pledge,
He's paying the price.
00:47:42.03\00:47:45.34
He could have
walked away from Calvary.
00:47:45.92\00:47:47.94
"You can't take My life.
00:47:47.97\00:47:49.35
Legionnaires with your
swords and your spears,
00:47:49.38\00:47:54.08
you cannot take My life.
00:47:54.51\00:47:56.95
I lay it down willingly."
00:47:57.42\00:47:59.37
And secondly, it's laying
aside a life as a garment.
00:48:00.69\00:48:06.08
A garment.
00:48:07.29\00:48:08.34
You see, at Bethlehem He
took the garment of flesh.
00:48:08.44\00:48:11.73
There in Bethlehem
this Jesus, this Messiah,
00:48:12.35\00:48:15.43
came into the
world as a little baby.
00:48:15.46\00:48:17.35
And the people, the religious
people, weren't ready for that.
00:48:17.38\00:48:20.87
They wanted their
King to come as a king.
00:48:20.90\00:48:22.95
They wanted their Messiah
to come with majestic power
00:48:22.98\00:48:25.50
and overthrow Rome, and
set up a temple in Jerusalem,
00:48:25.53\00:48:28.50
and set up a throne,
and sit upon a throne.
00:48:28.53\00:48:30.96
And so they had created
their own idea of Messiah.
00:48:30.99\00:48:33.62
And then the Messiah came
as a babe helpless in a manger.
00:48:33.65\00:48:36.80
He came to a crib, and then
to a cross, and then to a crypt
00:48:36.83\00:48:40.69
to show us how God loved us.
00:48:40.72\00:48:44.14
They couldn't take His life.
00:48:46.79\00:48:48.77
He laid it aside like a garment.
00:48:50.61\00:48:52.74
I mean, tattered by
trials, His human flesh,
00:48:54.38\00:48:59.21
by pain and suffering.
00:48:59.67\00:49:01.12
We must ever keep in mind
that Jesus died, rose again,
00:49:01.81\00:49:04.81
by His own volition.
00:49:04.84\00:49:06.10
It means God sentenced sin,
God ordered sin's execution,
00:49:06.98\00:49:11.53
in the Person and the
death of the good Shepherd,
00:49:11.56\00:49:14.52
the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:49:14.55\00:49:15.87
Think of it, the good
Shepherd was assaulted
00:49:15.90\00:49:18.39
that the sheep
might be shielded.
00:49:18.42\00:49:20.95
Think of it, the
good Shepherd was smitten
00:49:22.33\00:49:24.56
that the sheep might be healed.
00:49:24.84\00:49:26.67
Think of it, the good
Shepherd was lacerated
00:49:27.63\00:49:31.18
that the sheep may be liberated.
00:49:31.37\00:49:34.02
Think of it, the
good Shepherd was slain
00:49:34.32\00:49:37.03
that the sheep might be secure
forever and have eternal life.
00:49:37.06\00:49:42.44
He is the good Shepherd.
00:49:44.07\00:49:45.59
He met all the
tortures of condemnation
00:49:46.55\00:49:50.62
for our justification.
00:49:51.35\00:49:53.10
He met all the
tortures of condemnation
00:49:53.92\00:49:55.91
for our sanctification.
00:49:56.95\00:49:59.02
And He met all the
tortures of condemnation
00:49:59.74\00:50:03.73
for our glorification.
00:50:04.85\00:50:06.92
Listen carefully, this
is eternally important.
00:50:07.73\00:50:12.31
Those of you who
are viewing this program
00:50:12.34\00:50:14.01
wherever around the
world, listen carefully.
00:50:14.04\00:50:16.58
This might be the most important
words you hear from the pulpit.
00:50:16.61\00:50:20.41
Listen as God speaks.
00:50:20.44\00:50:23.20
Without the good Shepherd,
in death there is no assurance.
00:50:23.23\00:50:28.55
Listen carefully.
00:50:29.31\00:50:31.02
Without the good Shepherd,
in sorrow there is no comfort.
00:50:31.56\00:50:35.61
Without the good Shepherd,
in disaster there is no courage.
00:50:37.03\00:50:41.12
Without the good Shepherd,
in temptation there is no
00:50:41.15\00:50:44.05
strength to victory.
00:50:44.08\00:50:45.27
Without the good Shepherd,
in sin there is no grace.
00:50:45.30\00:50:49.43
And the Scripture says, "All we,
like sheep, have gone astray."
00:50:51.57\00:50:57.22
It matters little as to
how we have gone astray.
00:50:58.37\00:51:03.32
Doesn't matter how
far we've gone astray.
00:51:04.41\00:51:07.09
Doesn't matter.
00:51:07.31\00:51:09.10
God, the good Shepherd,
pulls us out of the ditch.
00:51:09.13\00:51:12.91
God, the good Shepherd,
pulls us out of the gutter.
00:51:12.94\00:51:16.08
God, the good Shepherd...
00:51:16.11\00:51:17.55
I mean, listen to me.
00:51:17.58\00:51:19.17
Doesn't matter how
far we've gone astray.
00:51:19.28\00:51:21.92
He seeks us and wins us.
00:51:21.95\00:51:25.12
We must give allegiance,
00:51:28.18\00:51:29.85
absolute ownership, and
authority to Jesus Christ.
00:51:30.76\00:51:35.38
Tragically, many have not
come under His absolute control,
00:51:36.11\00:51:39.09
His absolute authority.
00:51:39.12\00:51:40.62
He must become their Shepherd.
00:51:40.65\00:51:42.59
It is one thing to
know the good Shepherd,
00:51:42.62\00:51:45.17
to know those sheep.
00:51:46.10\00:51:48.23
But it's another thing, listen,
to know the good Shepherd.
00:51:48.26\00:51:52.15
Some years ago, many
years ago, Charlton Heston,
00:51:54.31\00:51:58.08
John Charles Carter,
real name, was a popular actor
00:51:58.58\00:52:02.61
in the second half of
the twentieth century.
00:52:03.08\00:52:05.01
He was the one, I believe,
that did The Ten Commandments.
00:52:05.61\00:52:08.57
And his great
voice, speaking voice.
00:52:09.68\00:52:12.87
I mean, he had won
several awards in the film;
00:52:12.97\00:52:16.47
The Ten Commandments, El
Cid, Ben-Hur, and others.
00:52:16.50\00:52:19.91
During his prime in
Hollywood, Reverend Billy Graham
00:52:20.58\00:52:23.52
also became a well known
preacher and an evangelist
00:52:23.55\00:52:26.75
honored by all evangelical
churches of his denomination.
00:52:26.78\00:52:30.12
There was one
event in Washington, D.C.
00:52:30.81\00:52:32.53
where they were
invited, both men.
00:52:32.56\00:52:34.82
And most probable,
their names were in a
00:52:35.47\00:52:38.06
list of special guests.
00:52:38.09\00:52:39.67
And during the event,
Charles Heston was asked
00:52:39.70\00:52:41.92
to recite the
twenty-third psalm.
00:52:41.95\00:52:44.09
And he agreed to do that.
00:52:44.86\00:52:46.48
And so Charlton
Heston stood up and recited
00:52:47.26\00:52:51.22
the twenty-third psalm.
00:52:51.25\00:52:53.19
And when he had finished, there
was emotion and enthusiasm.
00:52:54.14\00:52:58.85
And the people applauded,
and stood and applauded.
00:52:58.88\00:53:01.93
Charlton Heston.
00:53:04.00\00:53:05.30
Then it was Billy Graham's time.
00:53:05.86\00:53:08.28
And he got up and he
read the twenty-third psalm.
00:53:09.16\00:53:13.33
With a convincing voice that
God had used to earn millions
00:53:14.60\00:53:17.85
of souls into the
kingdom of Christ,
00:53:18.67\00:53:20.82
he recited the
twenty-third psalm
00:53:21.34\00:53:23.38
in the same manner
as Charlton Heston did.
00:53:23.97\00:53:26.98
The crowd did not applaud.
00:53:27.01\00:53:29.06
The hall did not roar.
00:53:29.64\00:53:31.58
There was no standing ovation.
00:53:31.61\00:53:33.24
But almost everyone had
tears rolling down their face.
00:53:33.27\00:53:36.41
At the end of the
event, a journalist approached
00:53:37.49\00:53:39.93
Charlton Heston and asked,
"What made the difference?"
00:53:40.13\00:53:43.88
And he politely answered, "Sir,
I know the twenty-third psalm,
00:53:44.75\00:53:51.19
but Billy knows the Shepherd."
00:53:52.06\00:53:55.46
Billy knows the Shepherd.
00:53:57.67\00:53:59.29
I make an appeal to you tonight.
00:54:00.38\00:54:02.14
To our listening
audience, viewing audience,
00:54:02.94\00:54:06.52
I make an appeal to you.
00:54:06.79\00:54:08.24
Let the Shepherd take
ownership in your life.
00:54:08.90\00:54:11.85
Let the Shepherd
restore your life
00:54:12.92\00:54:17.93
and make a change in your life.
00:54:18.31\00:54:20.87
And He will be
willing to do that.
00:54:21.07\00:54:23.30
Carl Ketcherside served as
a worker in the inner city.
00:54:23.52\00:54:30.47
He gave his life to teenagers.
00:54:31.34\00:54:34.25
And he described a crew of
ripped-off, long haired kids
00:54:34.35\00:54:39.06
with drug addiction.
00:54:39.16\00:54:40.86
And he loved them.
00:54:40.89\00:54:42.39
He listened to them.
00:54:42.83\00:54:44.27
And one by one, he
baptized them into Christ.
00:54:44.47\00:54:47.15
And a fluent member of
the church asked him one day,
00:54:47.38\00:54:50.03
"How are you making
out with those hippies?
00:54:50.06\00:54:52.18
Those long haired,
sad looking specimens
00:54:52.95\00:54:55.56
you've been meeting with?"
00:54:55.59\00:54:57.16
And Carl responded,
"Those are not specimens.
00:54:58.26\00:55:01.56
They are the children of God.
00:55:02.13\00:55:03.93
You're talking about
my brethren in the Lord."
00:55:04.55\00:55:07.24
Condescendingly, the man
continued, "They look to me
00:55:08.28\00:55:11.43
like something
the cat dragged in."
00:55:11.46\00:55:13.79
And Carl replied, "They look
to me like someone the Shepherd
00:55:14.42\00:55:20.07
has brought home."
00:55:20.44\00:55:21.88
Has brought home.
00:55:22.90\00:55:24.74
I was preaching in one place;
00:55:28.50\00:55:30.16
and ragtag
muffins, hippie group.
00:55:31.72\00:55:37.33
In those days, the 60's
you know, it was the hippies,
00:55:37.89\00:55:40.12
the yippies, the
long-gums, the freebie gypsies.
00:55:40.15\00:55:42.41
I had a coffee house in
Greenwich Village where we
00:55:42.58\00:55:46.38
ministered to the street
people and invited them in.
00:55:46.68\00:55:48.92
And we had
Christian poetry and music.
00:55:48.95\00:55:51.45
And, you know,
they loved the guitar.
00:55:51.48\00:55:53.09
And they would come in.
00:55:53.12\00:55:54.60
And people would say to me,
00:55:54.63\00:55:57.11
"What are you
doing with those people?"
00:55:57.83\00:55:59.82
What?
00:56:00.61\00:56:01.69
I'm doing what
the Shepherd would do.
00:56:01.72\00:56:03.75
Seeking out His lost sheep.
00:56:04.52\00:56:08.69
You are a sheep,
00:56:10.02\00:56:11.58
I am a sheep,
00:56:12.74\00:56:14.09
for which Christ died.
00:56:15.02\00:56:16.45
You are someone the
Shepherd wants to bring home.
00:56:17.38\00:56:21.20
And so I encourage you,
right now wherever you are,
00:56:21.86\00:56:26.99
to open your
heart to the Shepherd.
00:56:27.55\00:56:29.42
Listen to the Shepherd call.
00:56:30.32\00:56:31.79
He says if you confess your
sins, He's faithful and just
00:56:31.82\00:56:35.09
to forgive you of
your sins and cleanse you
00:56:35.12\00:56:37.08
from all unrighteousness.
00:56:37.11\00:56:39.03
Maybe you've backslidden, you've
walked away from the Shepherd.
00:56:39.35\00:56:42.69
You need to return.
00:56:42.72\00:56:44.00
Let the Shepherd bring you back,
woo you back, win you back.
00:56:44.03\00:56:47.82
And come into the fold so that
someday soon you'll be in that
00:56:48.22\00:56:52.98
great fold in the
kingdom of heaven,
00:56:53.01\00:56:55.91
in the name of Christ.
00:56:56.42\00:56:57.86
Let us pray.
00:56:58.49\00:56:59.69
Father God, I thank
You for the love of Christ,
00:57:00.37\00:57:05.05
for the grace of God.
00:57:05.75\00:57:07.25
And I thank You that
You are our good Shepherd.
00:57:08.21\00:57:11.07
Lead us, direct our paths.
00:57:12.18\00:57:15.84
And then bring us into the fold.
00:57:16.00\00:57:17.94
Not because we're worthy;
00:57:18.52\00:57:19.66
because we are
dirty, scraggly sheep.
00:57:19.69\00:57:22.89
But because You
are the good Shepherd.
00:57:23.56\00:57:25.48
Show Your
goodness to us tonight.
00:57:26.09\00:57:28.05
In Jesus' name, amen and amen.
00:57:28.71\00:57:33.57