Life!

Let's pray together. Father, we come now to hear your voice, the voice of our Savior speak to us in the text of Scripture. we confess to you that we too often are not listening and yet today we pray that your spirit would open us our ears to hear and that that spirit would increase our faith in our Savior the Lord Jesus and in his promises we pray that you would cause us to see what Jesus does promise and that we would believe it more than the promises of those around us and of sin itself grant that for we Lord in our deepest hearts because we are Your redeemed ones. We want to honor You.

We want to obey our Savior. We want to glorify You. So we pray that this would, Lord, energize that obedience for Your glory. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. This summer we've been talking about the gifts of the Gospel.

And if I would ask many Christians today, what are the gifts of the gospel? Almost, I would say, most would say, well, you get to go to heaven. And that's almost how we always talk about it, right? We approach people and say, if you were to die today and go to heaven and God said, why should I let you in, what would you say? And it's a good question. It's a good thing to ask people.

But more often than not, we seem to hold out the gospel as that which promises us one thing, and that's heaven. The gospel does more than that. When Jesus came with the good news, He brought more than to say to us, hey, you get to go to heaven. He said much more than that. And part of what He said we find in John 10 And so I want you to turn there with me this morning we hear about a gift that he brings Here Jesus explains if you will why he came He says in verse 10, that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. that's the promise that Jesus gives in the gospel that we have life and that we have it abundantly let's look at this in context so you follow along as I read John chapter 10 verses 1 through 18 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's brought out all his own, he goes before them. And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. and I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice So there will be one flock one shepherd For this reason the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again No one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord.

I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. Now the Apostle John wrote this gospel with one thing in mind. If you turn to the end of it, you will find it. He says, I've written these things that you may know the way to eternal life, that you may know that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing in him, you may have life in his name.

He wrote this to persuade you that Jesus, the Son of God, the Christ, is the only one who can give you eternal life. Chapter 10 fits into that persuasive scheme. In chapter 10, John wants you to have confidence when you look to Jesus because he is the shepherd, the good shepherd who knows, who loves, who gathers and dies for his sheep and who gives life to his sheep.

Now there are many people, there are many things that promise you the good life. But in fact, they only rob you, kill you and destroy you. Only Jesus as the great and good shepherd can deliver what he promises. Now notice how Jesus goes about explaining this. He begins by using familiar pictures in his own culture. The picture of a mutual relationship between the sheep and the shepherd contrasted to the destructive ways of the thief and the robber who do not come in by the gate.

Then because the shepherds of Israel don't get it, he goes on to explain that picture in terms of himself first of all verses 7 through 10 he identifies himself with the door that leads to the sheep that is the shepherd as he stands at the gate to the sheepfold and then in verses 11 through 18 jesus identifies himself as the good shepherd who accomplishes much for his sheep his sheep so listen to jesus this morning Listen to this promise. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Now if we fully appreciate the reason why Jesus came then we need to first heed His words concerning those who would compete with Him in giving you the good life What are they like? This is anyone who promises the good life by calling for you to bank your hopes, to put your confidence in His program, in His philosophy, in His interpretation of reality. The one who's going to give you the answers to life's enduring questions.

They are the messiahs and the gurus who come along and promise you the good life. And we are surrounded by these thieves and robbers. Who are they? Well, they're the Dr. Phils. They're the ones on the television who are saying, now listen, Susan, if you just accept responsibility, your life would go better, you pathetic knucklehead.

I mean, they're the ones that are out there saying, get your act together. Bank your hopes on what I've got to tell you. There's the entertainment industry. They don't only promise you the good life by giving you escape from the real life, but there's always these messages in those stories that are trying to entice you to another way of life. Primarily, live for yourself.

If you want a good life, be authentic. Live according to your lights. It's not about what... Don't let other people tell you what to do. Live by your lights. Live the authentic life.

They're the political candidates who promise you the good life by trumpeting. Buy into our plan for economic growth. Listen. Whether you're conservative or liberal, let's face the facts here. It's always the good life comes if you can get a better share of the pie. The only question is how do you get it?

There's philosophers who say the unexamined life is not worth living. Telling you that the good life comes as you look at your own life and as you examine their propositions and see that they have the way to what's good. the success stories who say hey I got my dreams anybody can achieve their dreams right the good life is achieving your dreams what you've always wanted to do as you've said. That's the good life.

There are even pastors who use Jesus as a means of reaching what the culture around them says is important. You have these churches ordaining homosexuals because the good life is a life of unconditional love and acceptance of everyone no matter what they're like or what they do. Anyone who comes to you claiming to have the key to life and encourages you to bank your hopes, to put your confidence in what they say are the thieves and the robbers that Jesus is talking about.

They're the ones competing with him to tell you this is the good life. This is the good life. Follow this and you will experience a great life. It's in almost everything in our culture today. There are all these voices all around us competing with the voice of our Lord Jesus saying, follow me and it'll be good. There's the competing voice of our own flesh, right?

If only I had another job. If only I had another mate. If only my life was different, then life would be good. Even the voice of our flesh competes with the voice of Jesus. How does Jesus see these shepherds, these purveyors of life? He spoke about them long ago in the Old Testament as He talked about the shepherds of Israel.

Turn back to Isaiah 56 for a moment. Isaiah 56. Isaiah 56. Beginning in verse 9. All you beasts of the field come to devour all the beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind.

They are all without knowledge. They are all silent dogs. They cannot bark. Dreaming. Lying down. Loving to slumber.

The dogs have a mighty appetite. They never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding. They have all turned to their own way. each to his own gain one and all Come they say let me get wine Let us fill ourselves with strong drink and tomorrow will be like this day great beyond measure They're like mute dogs who cannot bark, who cannot sound the warning when danger comes because they are lazy, drunken, gluttonous brutes who love the easy life and only want profit.

They don't care about you. how long do you think Dr. Phil would last if he couldn't make any money at what he was doing? How many motivational speakers can you get to share their insights if you can't put the money up? How many of them would come? Sometimes I think, wow. wouldn't it be kind of cool to be able to go talk somewhere and get $25,000 an hour, right?

That's, I don't know, for someone who can speak publicly, that's kind of easy money, you know? But the point is, if they couldn't get the money, would they come, right? Do they really care? We heard this morning Ezekiel 34. These so-called shepherds care only for themselves, using God's sheep for their own gain, and not bothering to go after the strays or to bind up the wounds of herding sheep.

Look at the shepherds that Jesus was talking to in chapter 11. Chapter 11, verse 45. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did, believed in him, that is Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, what are we to do?

For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. You see, they care about themselves. They care about their positions. They care about how much they can make. These are those competing voices all around us.

This is what they are like Now look at what Jesus says about them These kind of people who promise you much end up robbing you And not just of your resources but of your life They rob you of life These false shepherds in fact bring about, what does he say in verse 10? They bring about death and destruction. Verses 12 and 13. 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 is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. They care nothing for the sheep. Their compassion is a sham. And when things go bad or the money dries up, they abandon you. But the primary characteristic of these messiahs and these gurus is they always come in some other way than Jesus. They always come in some other way than Jesus.

Alright? Notice what he says in verse 1. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, that is by Jesus, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. That man is a thief and a robber. They come in some other way than Jesus. Look over at Colossians for a moment.

I love the book of Colossians. I think of all the books I've studied, this is my favorite. In Colossians chapter 2. In Colossians chapter 2, verse 3, in passing he says that all the riches of wisdom and knowledge are found where? In Christ. He goes on in verse 6, Therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. You see, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. If you leave Him out, you got nothing The primary characteristic of these false shepherds of these competing voices is they come in in another way than jesus they do not speak with his authority and with his teaching folks you know over the last couple years as i've been looking at the new testament in fact this last weekend Pastor Dave Durnland and I were the teachers for Titus School this last weekend and I was given the assignment of ethics.

And as I was contemplating that over this last year and I was talking to someone who had been teaching ethics in a university and you know talking about all the different ethical theories that are out there and all this sort of thing. And I said this to class the other day, I feel like such an idiot because it dawned on me that what you see is that when Jesus enters the stream of history, when Jesus enters in the incarnation, in His death and His resurrection, everything revolves around Him. Our ethics revolve around Jesus.

That is to say, when you read the New Testament, there is no commandment given in the New Testament that is not somehow tied to Jesus. Do you understand that? If you ignore Christ, you're going to miss the whole thing. You're going to miss the whole thing. How do I know how to relate to my wife? Well, Jesus relates to the church in the way I should relate to my wife, right?

How are you supposed to work? You're supposed to work for the Lord and not for man. Right? All of a sudden, everything of all the things about life have changed because with the entrance of Jesus, everything revolves around him. I know that seems so simple, doesn't it? We know that.

But what I'm trying to communicate is, do you see how any kind of ethics that we have for what we're supposed to do or for living the good life can only be understood and had if Jesus is at the center of it. So if someone comes to you and starts telling you things, this is the way to achieve a good life. There is no reference to Jesus. It is unconnected to Him.

You know immediately. It's not going to deliver. It can't. It can never deliver. Unless Jesus is central, it will not deliver. They always come in in another way other than Jesus.

So when you're reading Good Housekeeping and all your magazines about what it means to have a good life, you keep that in mind. Right? You keep that in mind. Beware of false shepherds who promise much but never talk about Jesus. Now, what's the answer to those thieves and robbers? What is the answer?

The answer is not a what, but a who. You see, Jesus is the only shepherd. See Jesus here. See Jesus. Jesus does not come with a system or a program. Jesus is not the man with a plan.

What you see in this text is that he offers not a plan. He offers himself. Now watch. Look at verse 7. I am the door of the sheep. Verse 9.

I am the door. Verse 13. I am the good shepherd. Verse 11. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd. And you notice, as you read through this, how many of the personal pronouns I, how the personal pronoun I is used.

Jesus is essentially saying, I am the answer. I am the one. Okay? I'm the one. Now, if Jesus wasn't who he said he was, I would be really turned off by all this. I would say, boy, this guy has a lot of chutzpah, doesn't he?

This guy is really, he's really stuck on himself. Unless, of course, all that he says about himself is true. And it is. Jesus is not a philosopher. He's not a guru. He's the Redeemer who is full of grace and truth and comes to capture your heart with that grace and that truth.

You see? and He comes with you in mind He doesn seek to help you until the resources run out and then leave you He does not think of how he can live off of you. In fact, when Jesus claims to be the good shepherd, he's saying something rather significant. He's saying something very significant here when he says, I am the good shepherd. Notice, he doesn't say, I am a good shepherd.

He says, I am the good shepherd. Turn back to Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel chapter 34. Look at verse 11. For thus says the Lord God, Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. Hmm.

Does that sound familiar? As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he's among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep. and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them into their own land.

And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel by the ravines and all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.

I will seek the lost and I will bring back the strayed and I will bind up the injured and I will strengthen the weak and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. Now what does that sound like? That sounds like Jesus and it is. Jesus is making a significant claim when he says, I am the good shepherd. He is saying, I am the one that God promised.

I am he. the shepherd then will never use you or abuse you he will care for you he will search for you he will gather you he will bind up your wounds he is the one that can give you what you need He comes with you in mind Believe that Jesus has come to give what He promised. What does He promise? This is why I love this verse. He's promised to give us life.

Abundant life. For as the NIV puts it, life to the full. That's what Jesus promises. Life. You see, we either were or are dead in our trespasses and sins. You have a physical life, sure, but it's a life devoid of peace with God, a life of enslavement to desires, a life of misery and malice.

Ever think of the life of a drug addict? Enslaved to that desire for that which will make you feel good. The drug promises a good life, and what does it do? You talk to some folks who've been in that life. It's horrible. It's horrid.

It's awful. It's almost beyond belief how awful that is. For a few moments of pleasure, looking for the next hit, deceiving, stealing, whatever it takes, constantly thinking every moment of the day, when is my next hit? How can I get it? Every moment, enslaved by that thought, walking down the street, thinking about it, scheming for it, wanting it. Is that life?

So I'm not a drug addict, okay. okay, a life of getting up, going to work, working like a dog, not being appreciated for it, coming home, eating, going to bed, getting up, going to work, unappreciated, going to bed, getting up. Saturday, but Monday comes around again, doesn't it? You can remember the first job I had The first job I had I worked for a guy who I mean he was just a mean old man is what he was that all I can say about him And I can remember, and I had to work Saturdays, work six days a week, and I remember Sunday, like 3 o'clock in the afternoon I'd be looking at my watch and saying okay I've got to be back at work in so many hours two hours later going to be back at work my day off was spent thinking about how many hours I left before I had to go back to work it's miserable right life is miserable you call that life would you call that living that's the life lived under sin meaningless, absurd just for a few moments of pleasure, maybe getting drunk or seeing a movie, some kind of escape.

But Jesus comes to bring real life, a life worth living. In John's Gospel, eternal life means life of the age to come. Life of the age to come. We're experiencing. This abundant life is to experience the life of the age to come. What's that age like?

We heard about it this morning, right? No more crying, no more tears. As John put it in Revelation, the sun's not beating on us anymore. There's none of the curse of sin around us. It's a wonderful life of eternal peace, of enjoying everything. That's the life of the age to come.

And Jesus says you can start experiencing that now. You can start having that now. That's what eternal life means. It means not just endless consciousness. That's not what He means. He means a different quality of life, not just quantity of life.

A life of peace with God. And sure, you still fight those evil desires and sin, but you've experienced a measure of freedom. And death no longer frightens you. and you anticipate a day when you will no longer die and you know that day is coming and you have a quiet conscience because you know that God loves you and He looks at you with grace and not judgment because of what Jesus did.

It's a life of fellowship with other people. It's a life of... I don't know, laughing. We can laugh now. Like we couldn't laugh before. You know, being at Titus School, what I like most about that is seeing these guys from all these different churches come together.

And man, they have a rip-roaring good time. Now they come from different walks of life. And I don't think they'd have that kind and that quality of life without Jesus. Right? It's amazing to see that. And Jesus came so that you would have life to the full and abundant life.

Here's the question that you need to ask. Listen carefully. Jesus makes a promise. I have come that you may have life and life abundant. Is Jesus a liar? Is he?

What would you say? No, I think everybody would say no to that. Who would ever call Jesus a liar? But we act like it. Don't we? Don't we?

When you're tempted by this world's notions of the good life, you need to ask yourself that question. You've heard me say, I've used this before, and I say it all over the place, so I don't know how many times I've said it here. But I know I've said it millions of times. one of the things John Piper said that really stuck with me is this. No one sins out of duty.

No one sins out of duty. Why do we sin then? Because sin always promises something. Right? Nobody gets up in the morning and says, oh man, I don't want to lie today, but I have to. Right?

Do you ever do that? No. Why do you lie? Because at that moment, at the moment, you're saying, if I don't lie, X will happen. That will what? I'll be in trouble.

That will destroy the quality of my life in some way. If I tell the truth, then what? Boy, if I tell the truth, then this guy will hear about it and this guy will hear about it. I be out of a job Right But do you believe what Jesus says Do you believe what Jesus says Jesus came to give you a life that you couldn't have dreamed was possible. Do you find hope in that?

Do you find hope in that? Here's your friend. She's about had it. She says to you, I can't live this way anymore with this man. I just can't do it. I can't do it.

Is there any hope for her? Can you say to her, look, what you're saying is if you take the route that you're thinking of and divorce your husband, you think life will be better then, don't you? Jesus says he's got something better. Do you believe him? What about the young man who says, I can't live without her. I've got to have her.

She's the dream of my life, but she didn't want anything to do with me. Now what? What can you say? It may not work out, But Jesus has something good for you, doesn't he? Doesn't he? Some of you sitting here today, some of you young people, because I was sitting where you were back, you know, ages ago when I was young.

Some of you young people can't even imagine that. But you're sitting here saying this. I've grown up here. I've heard all this. But life looks so much better over there. You know what?

You know, my mom and dad don't let me go to those parties, but boy, if I could go to those parties, if I could experience that life, it would, man, wouldn't that be great? Is Jesus a liar? Is he a liar? Is he promising you something? Is this what Jesus is saying to you? If you're sitting here thinking, Is this what Jesus is saying?

You know if you follow me you know I know you have to grit your teeth and people are going to hate you It be pretty bad But you know what, there's, I guess there's always heaven. That's not what he's saying. He's saying you can have a good life now. You can have a good life now. What can you say to the one whose friend or spouse is dying with no hope of recovery?

And you know it and everyone knows it. Is there hope in that situation? What's life going to be without him? What's life going to be without her? Well, you know what? if Jesus has determined that they've run their course, you can still have an abundant life. You see, Jesus is not a liar.

He's not. Some of you here this morning do not know Jesus as Savior. You've never come to the point of saying, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I have sinned against you, against God, and I see that it is wicked. And I repent, and I am going to follow Jesus and accept his payment for me. Some of you have never, ever done that.

Because you look at Christians as people who are, you know, these long-faced sourpusses. And maybe some of them are. I don't know what your experience is. But you don't ever entrust yourself to Jesus because you think that will be the end of what you think is the good life. You're wrong. Jesus promises a good life, an abundant life.

How does He do it? Verse 9, He does it by saving you. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. And he'll go in and out and find pasture. He will be saved.

Saved from the judgment of God. Saved from the enslavement of your desires. Saved from the rule of the evil one. Saved from the rule and the tyranny of the world How does he do that He accomplishes that through deep intimacy with you Look at verses 14 and 15 I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own, and My own know Me. Just as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for the sheep.

He's talking about you can have the same intimacy with Him that He has with the Father. You know, one of the greatest gifts of life to me has been my wife. I mean, I just... There's an intimacy there born out of years of companionship through joys and trials together. And I mean, there's just this intimacy there. You know how I know that now for sure?

Because she's already saying to me, I'm already missing you. And I'm already missing her. I'm leaving on Tuesday. And there's one sense in which there's adventure. I'm really looking forward to this. But there is a part of me that says, that is 18 days without my wife.

And that's hard. And I don't like it. I honestly don't. Can I admit something to you? Okay. Some of you say no.

So, no. Are you kidding? Whenever a pastor says, can I admit something to you, you're all ears, aren't you? When I go on these trips overseas, about day three, I'm starting the countdown. And that's no lie. I'm not being unfaithful to God by saying that or feeling that.

But there's an intimacy there, right? I like being with her. And that's what Jesus says. Jesus is that kind of a companion who develops a deep relationship with you. One that even looks like the one that He has with His Father. So that this good life is this life that is rich with the intimacy of knowing Jesus.

And not just knowing who He is, but just knowing Him as a person. You see? That's why life is so full. He accomplishes that because He redeems His sheep by His death. He buys you by His death. Well, you're sitting here, the sermon's over.

What are you going to do with this? What are you going to... How are you going to think this through this week? Or is this just going to be just one of those sermons where, hey, that was a good sermon. and the illustrations could have been better, but I liked it. Or is there going to be something more than that? I mean, just think about that.

What happens when sin is beckoning to you this week? Are you going to think about this? When sin, and it always beckons with pleasure, you say, which pleasure do I want more right now? The pleasure of Jesus or the pleasure of this sin? when you're kind of in a quandary and you're looking for advice and we all, listen, let's face it, we all look for advice because we want something better.

We want a good life. So when you're casting around for advice, where are you going to go? Who are you going to believe? When you look at Jesus, who do you see? You see the Redeemer who has said, I have for you a good life. Everything else you say but my life is hard Sure it is We live in a sin world And yet Jesus can deliver.

Father, thank you for your word of hope today. Frankly, Lord, we don't see Jesus as our answer as often as we should. When hardship comes into our life, Father, we confess that we think, well, you know, if I wasn't following Jesus, it might not be this hard. And yet, Lord, because of what Jesus has said, a life without hardship and without Jesus would be awful.

Lord our Savior has called us to take up our cross to deny ourselves, to crucify ourselves he's told us to follow him instead of our own appetites and desires and pleasures and he's told us that people will hate us and yet Lord by faith we know that what Jesus offers is better than life without all those things help us I pray to believe this promise and to live because it's true help us to do that we pray by your grace Amen