Anchors of Truth

The Good Shepherd

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ron Halvorsen

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000133


00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:21 Good evening, and it's almost time to say, "Happy Sabbath."
00:26 Not quite, but I think anytime is a good time
00:30 to say, "Happy Sabbath."
00:31 So though it is not quite happy Sabbath,
00:34 I'm going to say, "Happy Sabbath,"
00:36 because I'm in a happy Sabbath mood.
00:38 And I hope that's alright with you.
00:40 Happy Sabbath.
00:42 And by the time this meeting shall have ended,
00:44 I think we actually will be in the Sabbath.
00:46 Late in the 1960's or early 1970's I was visiting New York.
00:52 Not yet pastoring there.
00:54 I was hanging out with a bunch of young men;
00:57 some were in the church, some out of the church,
00:59 some coming to the Lord, some running away from the Lord.
01:03 Just a mixture of guys from The Hood in Brooklyn, New York.
01:09 And we were playing basketball there, downtown Brooklyn,
01:13 and somebody said, "You know, we need to go over
01:16 to the city and check out this dude who's preaching
01:20 in the New York Center."
01:22 Now you've got to understand the mechanics of New York City.
01:24 If you live in Brooklyn or Queens, it's actually
01:27 part of New York City.
01:29 But the people living in the outer boroughs call
01:31 Manhattan, the city.
01:33 So the Brooklynites were saying, "We need to go over to
01:36 the city," meaning Manhattan, "and hear this dude
01:39 who is a really strong preacher."
01:42 They didn't know his name, they didn't know much about him,
01:45 except that he could preach the Word with power.
01:48 And they said, "You've got to hear this guy.
01:50 This is a bad dude."
01:53 Now those were the days when "bad dude" meant "good dude."
01:56 And so they said, "We've got to go hear this dude.
02:00 We've got to go to the city."
02:01 And I remember it very, very well because, first of all,
02:04 it was my first subway ride.
02:06 And your first subway ride in New York City
02:08 is a memorable, memorable event.
02:10 Then we went over to the New York Center on 46th Street
02:13 off of Broadway to hear this bad dude preach.
02:17 They said, "Home boy can preach."
02:20 And there was this tall young slender preacher
02:23 by the name of Ron Halvorsen.
02:25 It was my first time hearing him.
02:27 And more than what I got from him, I listened to those
02:33 young, hardened young men who were so proud
02:37 of their fellow Brooklynite.
02:38 These were guys from Bedford, Stuyvesant, and the rough areas
02:43 of East Flatbush.
02:45 And they were preaching, listening to a guy
02:47 from Bay Ridge, Coney Island preaching.
02:51 And it didn't matter; black, white,
02:52 rich, poor, that didn't matter.
02:54 He was a Brooklynite who had found Jesus
02:56 and was preaching the Word.
02:57 And they opened their Bibles and they listened to him,
03:00 and they were blessed by him.
03:02 And I was blessed watching how this young preacher
03:05 was blessing these hardened New York City kids.
03:08 And they were giving their heart to the Lord.
03:10 That was the first time I heard Ron Halvorsen.
03:12 And he's been preaching all of these many years
03:15 with power and with conviction.
03:18 And I realized that young people can reach young people
03:22 in a very powerful way when they give their lives to Christ
03:25 and stand up for Him.
03:26 And so way back then he was preaching for God.
03:29 And here many, many years later, he is still
03:32 preaching for the Lord, amen.
03:34 And doing a very, very fine job.
03:36 The subject tonight is, The Good Shepherd,
03:38 as we are in night number three of our Anchors Of Truth;
03:43 Jesus, The Radical Teacher.
03:45 And we have been blessed each night, have we not.
03:47 The messages have been plain and pointed and powerful.
03:51 And I suspect tonight will be no different
03:54 as Pastor Ron Halvorsen teaches us the Word.
03:58 I've got to always distinguish that now;
03:59 Pastor Ron Halvorsen, Sr.
04:01 Because his son is a conference president in his own right.
04:04 And so that is Pastor Ron Halvorsen, Jr.
04:08 So since there is a Sr. and a Jr., and they're both
04:11 in the work, we've got to distinguish that this is the Sr.
04:14 His wife is here standing by his side, and they are such fun.
04:18 We were just in the back talking and reminiscing about
04:21 ministry in New York City.
04:23 Which was a great challenge and a great blessing to us.
04:26 We're going to have prayer, then we want to do a song called,
04:28 Go Free.
04:29 And then the next voice you will hear will be that of
04:32 our preacher, our teacher, our friend, Pastor Ron Halvorsen Sr.
04:37 Shall we pray.
04:38 Gracious Father, we just praise You and thank You
04:41 for this, another opportunity to hear the Word of the Lord.
04:47 You have told us in Your prophetic Word that
04:49 there is coming soon a famine for the preaching of the Word.
04:53 But now, Lord, while the preaching is plentiful
04:57 and the Word is powerful, we ask You to allow us
05:02 to feed on the Word.
05:05 As it were, to fatten ourselves on the Word.
05:09 To be full of the Word.
05:13 I ask for the pastor Your heavenly anointing and unction.
05:19 And then I ask for those who sit in this house,
05:22 and those who hear and watch him around the world,
05:27 that Your Spirit may attend them.
05:29 Give them open and receptive hearts and minds
05:34 as we seek to learn Your will, and then do Your will,
05:40 so that we can be prepared when Jesus comes.
05:44 Accept our prayer and praise this night.
05:48 And in exchange, give us Your power and Your presence.
05:53 And we thank You for Your promise to hear and answer
05:56 the prayer of faith.
05:57 In Jesus' name, amen.
06:14 Troubled soul, why are you sad and down hearted?
06:23 Don't you know He doesn't care where you started?
06:32 Yesterday can't change tomorrow,
06:38 so leave behind all your sorrow.
06:43 Go free, go free.
06:49 In the name of Jesus, go free.
06:55 Child of God, child adored,
07:01 come to the Lord and go free.
07:15 Tempted soul, I know you're so tired of aching.
07:24 Don't you know Jesus has cures for the taking?
07:33 His hand of mercy and healing
07:39 can untie the hurt that you're feeling.
07:44 Go free, go free.
07:50 In the name of Jesus, go free.
07:56 Child of God, child adored,
08:02 come to the Lord and go free.
08:16 Trembling soul, I know you're so tired of fighting.
08:25 Don't you know He sees the wounds you've been hiding?
08:34 The battle that's raging is so strong
08:40 and you've been a captive for too long.
08:47 Go free, oh you've got to go free.
08:52 In the name of Jesus, go free.
08:58 Child of God, child adored,
09:05 come to the Lord and go free.
09:12 In the name of Jesus, go free.
09:18 Child of God, child adored,
09:25 come to the Lord and go free.
09:33 Go free, go free.
09:39 Now go free.
09:57 Thank you, C.A. Wonderful, wasn't it.
10:01 C.A., a dude?
10:06 A young dude.
10:08 Well I'm still a dude, but I'm an old dude now.
10:10 I just want to let the people know that.
10:13 I'm the old dude.
10:14 But I'm happy to be here at 3ABN.
10:16 It's been a wonderful few days I've spent here and
10:19 met some of the finest people, Christian people,
10:22 in the whole world.
10:23 And it's always great to be with Jim.
10:29 And he's a wonderful Christian man and preacher,
10:32 and I love to hear him preach.
10:35 And so I'm glad to be here for this.
10:37 And I'm so happy to be able to talk to so many people
10:39 that are watching 3ABN.
10:42 Continue to watch it and learn the great truths of God's Word.
10:46 Be ready for the coming of Jesus Christ.
10:48 Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.
10:50 The story, the parable, of the Good Shepherd.
10:53 Gracious Father, I pray now that the Holy Spirit will come
10:56 and be with us.
10:58 We ask that You enlighten our hearts and open our minds.
11:03 Touch us with Your grace as we discover
11:08 the good Shepherd.
11:10 For I ask it in Christ's name, amen and amen.
11:16 I'm fascinated by the teachings of Jesus Christ.
11:20 In fact, I was in a church years ago, and every Sabbath
11:24 I'd be preaching on the Christ.
11:28 And finally, a woman came up to me one day and she says,
11:31 "All you do is preach about Jesus."
11:33 I said, "Thank you ma'am, that's the best compliment I ever had."
11:38 All I want to do is preach about Jesus Christ.
11:40 Because Jesus Christ is the answer to human problems.
11:45 And so I love and am fascinated by Jesus.
11:48 And I'm fascinated by His ability to teach,
11:51 and the wisdom that He showed.
11:53 And I find so many practical things in my own spiritual life
11:56 as I read the parables and the teachings of Jesus.
11:59 And yet, I discover how radical that this Jesus Christ was.
12:05 Now He didn't get His learning, like many of us, from
12:08 the school of the prophets, or the university,
12:11 or the place of higher education.
12:14 He received the gift of wisdom from His Father.
12:18 He had great insight because He received the gift
12:22 of wisdom from His Father.
12:25 Have you noticed the language that Jesus uses when He
12:27 tells these stories?
12:29 I mean, He uses the language of the country.
12:32 And being a city boy, I'm fascinated by what He says
12:36 about the country, His school room.
12:39 He hardly uses university terms, or scholarly words,
12:43 or long, long paragraphs and theological abstract concepts,
12:48 drab and generalizing terms.
12:51 His sermons, His homilies, His meditations, His parables
12:58 come from words of the countryside.
13:00 Words that blossom with the verdant colors of the hills.
13:05 Words that are perfumed by the odors of the orchard.
13:09 His words were not drab facts, sterile concepts.
13:14 But colorful words, I mean, descriptive words that
13:17 draw word pictures.
13:19 He was an artist...
13:22 ...with His language.
13:24 Words of beauty, full of color.
13:27 He tells stories with the language of the country
13:29 where He grew up.
13:31 I taught homiletics of preaching in three or four
13:34 of our universities, and I tried to tell the young people,
13:37 "Make your sermon like a painting.
13:41 Put color and beauty in it.
13:42 Like Jesus did in the simple stories that He told."
13:46 I mean, He saw first with His eyes, and then His heart,
13:49 and in His head.
13:51 He saw unhappy people.
13:53 And out of their sadness He wrote the Beatitudes,
13:56 "Happy are they..."
13:58 He saw fields ripe for harvest.
14:00 And they became the lost waiting to be harvested
14:03 for the kingdom of God.
14:05 I mean, nothing was plain or ordinary or simple
14:09 or uninteresting when Jesus taught.
14:11 He used vibrant colorful, I mean, words from the
14:15 country scenes and simple people,
14:17 and He wrote His parables.
14:20 Things swelling and ripening under the great dark leaves
14:24 became a parable.
14:26 Purple clusters of grapes, succulent, heavy with flavor
14:30 hanging upon green leaves, dripping with nectar;
14:34 and it became a parable.
14:36 He saw a lost boy in a pig pen and He wrote a story
14:38 and a parable about a father longing for his boy
14:41 to come home.
14:43 He saw grass, fervent fresh and green, waving gently
14:46 in the autumn breeze.
14:47 And He uses knowledge of the country and the language of the
14:50 country to tell people about God.
14:54 In all that beauty He found the deep lessons
14:58 that help us from day to day, month to month,
15:01 year to year, as Christians to face the mundane,
15:04 the ordinary, and something extraordinary.
15:09 Parables for those who are hurting.
15:12 I mean, parables for those who are weeping,
15:15 who needed someone to care about them and who needed
15:19 some kind of assurance.
15:21 And His parables are stories to help us through hard days.
15:25 Hard days.
15:26 And we all have hard days.
15:28 It reminds me of a story about Chippy.
15:30 I don't know if you've heard about Chippy.
15:31 He was a parakeet.
15:33 And Chippy was a happy little parakeet.
15:36 Sitting in his cage doing what parakeets do.
15:40 And one day, the owner of the parakeet decided that she should
15:43 clean the cage.
15:46 And not wanting to make a big mess,
15:47 she got out the vacuum cleaner.
15:52 Get the drift already?
15:55 And so she started the vacuum cleaner and
15:58 stuck the hose into the cage, working her way around.
16:02 And all of a sudden, the phone rage.
16:05 And she reached for the phone and...whooft.
16:09 She looked and Chippy was gone.
16:12 So she did what any good owner would do.
16:14 She flipped off the switch and opened the vacuum bag.
16:18 And there was little Chippy in the dust and dirt,
16:22 looking down trodden.
16:25 And so she did what any good owner would do.
16:27 She picked Chippy up and ran for the faucet.
16:32 She turned on the cold water.
16:35 Cold water all over little Chippy.
16:38 Now he looks desperate.
16:41 And so now she realizes what she did, and so she runs,
16:44 she runs for the hair dryer...
16:49 ...and blows Chippy dry.
16:53 The reporter that reported on Chippy called back in a few days
16:57 and says, "Well, how's Chippy doing?"
16:59 "Well, he doesn't sing like he use to."
17:03 "I can see why he doesn't."
17:06 "He doesn't act like he use to."
17:09 I mean, have you ever had one of those Chippy days?
17:12 Come on now.
17:13 Have you ever felt blown over?
17:15 I mean, have you ever felt in that way?
17:17 You see, that's why He told these parables.
17:20 For people who were hurting.
17:21 For people who couldn't get through Monday.
17:23 He was trying to tell them that there is a future for them.
17:27 He talked about born of faith,
17:29 gave away to a new birth of faith.
17:31 He took the beauty of nature to help us discover
17:34 the beauty of His nature; the nature and character of God.
17:39 He saw peaceful animals playing and at work.
17:42 He saw harmful animals, like the eagle swooping down
17:47 with wide spread wings upon its prey.
17:50 He saw swallows in the air, which like kings cannot fall
17:54 if God does not know and will it.
17:57 He saw the treacherous fox.
17:59 And He saw dogs sitting under tables
18:01 getting the crumbs that fell.
18:03 I mean, all these things came from the heart of love,
18:06 from the heart and the mind of God's Son.
18:10 And they became words of the parables.
18:13 He saw the snake going through the grass and
18:16 the dark viper hiding in rocks and stones and in tombs.
18:20 And they became parables, they became stories, to help us.
18:24 Words of nature and country became
18:27 the words of the gospel story.
18:29 It was out of that where men discovered the God of love.
18:35 Jesus Christ was a man of all seasons.
18:38 Born among shepherds;
18:40 He who was to become the Shepherd of our souls.
18:44 Knowing the country, He spoke from the knowledge
18:47 of that country.
18:48 A knowledge about God.
18:50 It was in Galilee out of the nature, that Jesus
18:53 got His parables, His sermons.
18:55 It will be difficult for us totally to understand this,
18:57 because we're urbanized.
18:59 Well, at least I am.
19:02 I mean, I don't know much about the country.
19:04 And, I mean, I've been urbanized through the years.
19:08 And so I can't really fully grasp it,
19:12 but I can grasp the lesson that He taught.
19:15 You see, this morning we need to understand
19:17 the speech of the country.
19:18 We need to understand the speech of heaven,
19:20 the parables of Jesus that He told.
19:22 One such parable was spoken in the setting of the field.
19:27 And that was the good Samaritan.
19:30 But before I get you into the 10th chapter,
19:32 we've got to understand why He told the parable.
19:35 There was a reason He told the parable.
19:37 And it was a radical reason.
19:39 You see, if you study over carefully chapter 9,
19:43 John chapter 9, you discover that there's a conflict.
19:49 He's being confronted by the Pharisees, the religious people.
19:51 The religious people were always arguing with Jesus Christ.
19:56 The religious people always thought they knew
19:58 more than Jesus Christ.
20:00 And the religious people at that time was the
20:03 hardest to get along with.
20:04 And sometimes even today.
20:08 But anyway, there was a conflict.
20:11 And you know, He talked about the good Shepherd,
20:18 because they were evil shepherds.
20:20 I mean, they were the false shepherds.
20:22 And the Pharisees and Sadducees, and those that were leading
20:26 the sheep astray; they were the false shepherds.
20:28 So He's going to come in with the story of the good Shepherd
20:31 to show the contrast, to show the difference.
20:34 They didn't care anything about the sheep.
20:38 They trampled the sheep under their feet
20:42 and called them accursed and cast them out
20:45 whenever they disgraced them.
20:48 They had self-appointed assumption of leadership.
20:50 They lived in an ivory tower, those false shepherds.
20:54 I mean, they loved nothing better
20:56 than trampling the people and keeping them subject to
20:59 ridiculous traditions and cultural things.
21:02 I mean, laws.
21:03 I mean, law upon law upon law.
21:05 Ten commandments became two-hundred and fifty.
21:10 And this careless attitude is indicated there in chapter 9.
21:16 By the way, they dealt with a beggar who was born blind.
21:20 Remember, He healed the blind beggar.
21:23 And the blind beggar was so thrilled with the power
21:25 that he could see now.
21:26 And the Pharisees hated it so much
21:28 they didn't care that the blind man saw.
21:31 They didn't rejoice that God had performed this great miracle
21:34 so the blind man could see.
21:36 They didn't care about that at all, not at all.
21:40 All they cared about was to trick Jesus,
21:43 to corner Jesus, to make fun of Jesus,
21:47 to try to defeat Jesus.
21:49 In fact, they got so mad at the blind man who was healed,
21:55 they unsynagogued him.
21:57 Well in other words, they kicked him out of the synagogue.
22:01 They didn't care about a man.
22:03 They only cared about what they could say against Jesus Christ,
22:09 and the conflict in their theology.
22:12 And their only determination was not to help anybody,
22:15 but they were determined to point out
22:17 to get rid of Jesus Christ.
22:18 That's why chapter 10.
22:20 Because He's in conflict, radically in conflict,
22:23 with the religious people of His day.
22:26 They wanted to get rid of Him.
22:29 And He was the issue because He threatened their security
22:32 of the ivory tower.
22:34 So these false teachers, these self-appointed,
22:37 didn't care about the people.
22:39 And they were the false shepherds.
22:41 And Jesus Christ is going to show us
22:43 how a good shepherd acts,
22:46 how the true Shepherd acts.
22:49 And by the way, that shepherd is an Old Testament concept.
22:52 In the passage, Jesus moves to introduce Himself
22:54 as the only true Shepherd in Israel.
22:57 He is the good Shepherd who really loves and really
22:59 cares for the sheep.
23:01 And they are the false shepherds who care only for themselves.
23:04 That's the conflict.
23:06 And that brings us into chapter 10.
23:09 We need to try and understand the speech of the country,
23:12 the speech of heaven, the parables that Jesus told.
23:15 And here in John 10, I'm going to begin reading at verse 1.
24:45 And notice, the hireling, but not for the sheep.
24:54 Now here we have the story.
24:56 We have this story.
24:58 Remember that the minds of the Galileans had been
25:01 prepared for the truth for centuries;
25:03 Messiah as a Shepherd.
25:05 This was not new.
25:07 Why, the psalms, David talked about the Messiah as Shepherd.
25:11 Isaiah spoke about the good Shepherd,
25:14 the Messiah as Shepherd.
25:16 And even Ezekiel talks about this Messiah, this Shepherd;
25:21 the good Shepherd.
25:23 The shepherds were prominent in his life.
25:25 The first to receive the glorious announcement,
25:28 the wondrous birth, there upon the hillside
25:31 were the shepherds.
25:32 And the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest."
25:35 It was the shepherds who first saw the good Shepherd.
25:40 There it was.
25:42 And so, wondrous birth.
25:44 You see, as a good Shepherd, He died.
25:46 John 10 verse 10 and verse 11, the Bible tells us that
25:51 the good Shepherd died for His sheep.
25:54 "The thief cometh not but to steal and to kill
25:59 and to destroy.
26:00 I am come that they may have life, and that they
26:03 might have it more abundantly.
26:05 I am the good Shepherd.
26:06 And the good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep."
26:10 As the good Shepherd, He rose again from the dead.
26:13 The Bible says, verse 20, "And now the God of peace
26:17 that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ,
26:20 that great Shepherd of the sheep,
26:22 through the blood of the everlasting covenant,"
26:24 or testament.
26:26 Hebrews 13 verse 20.
26:29 As the chief Shepherd, He will return to reward
26:33 under shepherds who are faithful for the care of His flock.
26:36 That's 1 Peter.
26:38 "For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned
26:41 unto the Shepherd, the Bishop of your souls."
26:45 It's been suggested that "shepherd" was always
26:48 a symbol of the king.
26:49 In the Old Testament, and now in the New Testament.
26:52 Jesus did not mix metaphors.
26:54 And when He exhorted the disciples to be of good courage,
26:57 "Fear not, little flock," He said, "for it's
26:59 your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
27:03 The kingdom and the king.
27:05 Flock, father, kingdom; these three words or figure of speech,
27:10 merge and constitute the idea of a king,
27:14 recognized in the Middle East.
27:15 The idea of king as a shepherd of his flock,
27:18 he is the father of his family,
27:20 and he is the ruler of the nations.
27:22 That's the king.
27:24 And so the king; connected to the shepherd.
27:27 And that's why Jesus said...
27:33 Now all these applications merge in Him.
27:37 Here we have the kingship of Jesus.
27:39 Only as Jesus becomes Shepherd can He become King.
27:42 Only as He's Shepherd can He become King
27:45 to sit upon the throne of your heart.
27:47 Only as Jesus becomes your Shepherd
27:48 can He rule over you and over your passions
27:51 and your pleasures and your propensities to evil.
27:54 Only as a Shepherd King can He bring you under His control.
28:00 Do you know Him as Shepherd King?
28:02 Is He ruling and reigning in your heart,
28:05 ruling and reigning in your life right now?
28:07 That's the question we need to ask.
28:10 As I read that passage of Scripture,
28:13 I saw four things that leaped out at me.
28:17 As a Shepherd, He owns His sheep.
28:21 He knows His sheep.
28:23 He leads His sheep.
28:26 And finally, He gives up His life for His sheep.
28:30 Now let's look at that together.
28:32 First of all, He owns his sheep.
28:34 Jesus used the pronoun of personal possession.
28:39 When speaking, He says His own sheep.
28:42 You are not just somebody, you are His own sheep.
28:46 I'm not just Ron Halvorsen, a scraggly sheep;
28:49 I am His sheep.
28:50 He owns me.
28:52 Wow. He owns me.
28:55 Phillip Keller writes so much about the Shepherd.
28:59 If you ever get a chance, get some of the books by
29:01 Phillip Keller on the Shepherd and sheep.
29:04 He describes an incident in his early life as a shepherd,
29:07 because he was a shepherd.
29:10 Let me share it with you.
29:12 When just a young man, he bought his first thirty ewes.
29:16 He describes how he and his neighbor were sitting on the
29:19 corral rail that enclosed the sheep pen,
29:23 admiring the choice of the sheep.
29:25 They were strong and well bred.
29:28 And he owned them.
29:29 I mean, he had purchased them.
29:32 He was proud to be a sheep owner.
29:36 He then had to take the killing knife and he had to put the mark
29:42 in the ear of all thirty sheep.
29:47 You see, the shepherd...
29:48 And every shepherd has his own mark.
29:50 And he marks the ear of the sheep
29:52 so that they might be distinctive.
29:54 They might know that it's the sheep of Mr. Keller.
29:59 They could tell just by the mark, the marking, the sign
30:03 on the ear of this sheep.
30:07 Wow.
30:09 By the way, there's an exciting parallel in the Old Testament.
30:12 When a slave in a Hebrew family decided to join with that family
30:16 and live free with that family forever,
30:18 or for as long as life, the owner would take the slave
30:22 to the door post and then he would put his ear against it,
30:26 and he would drill a hole in the earlobe.
30:29 And that would signify, that would seal him forever
30:32 in the family.
30:33 He was now free, not a slave, but he was one of the family.
30:37 That's what Jesus Christ does for God's children
30:40 in Revelation when God puts His seal upon His sheep,
30:43 when God puts His sign upon His sheep.
30:46 He knows His sheep.
30:47 He knows the call of the sheep.
30:49 Thank God for that.
30:52 Thank God for that.
30:54 I mean, wow. Belonging to the Shepherd.
30:59 He owns us.
31:00 How exciting to know that we've been purchased by the Shepherd,
31:04 we've been pardoned by the Shepherd,
31:06 and we've been preserved forever by the Shepherd;
31:09 by our owner, the Lord Jesus Christ.
31:14 How were we purchased?
31:16 Well the Bible makes it clear.
31:17 We've been purchased, not by money.
31:20 We've been purchased by blood.
31:22 In 1 John chapter 1 verse 7, the Bible teaches us unmistakably.
31:39 Our sin requires purchase.
31:41 We desire, we need to be purchased to be bought back.
31:45 I mean, here we are lost.
31:47 And Jesus Christ comes, sheds His blood.
31:50 This is the price that God paid, that the good Shepherd paid,
31:53 for His sheep.
31:56 Now you know why I'm so thankful
31:59 to know the good Shepherd.
32:01 Now you know why I love to preach God's
32:03 message from the Bible.
32:05 Now you know why Jesus Christ is exalted when I preach.
32:09 Because Jesus Christ purchased...
32:11 It was not the theology of my church.
32:14 It was not the doctrine of my church.
32:16 It was Jesus in my church that purchased me
32:21 and paid the price.
32:23 Our sin requires to be purchased.
32:26 And the blood of Christ; He pays with blood.
32:28 Secondly, I've been pardoned by grace.
32:33 We need to be pardoned from our sin.
32:34 The Bible says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith;
32:37 and that not of yourselves.
32:38 It is the gift of God."
32:40 Grace is the unmerited favor of God.
32:43 The Shepherd shows the unmerited favor of God.
32:47 By the way, grace, the gift;
32:49 the value of any gift is in the love of the giver.
32:53 I've told this story before a hundred times.
32:57 It gets better with the telling.
33:00 But it was years ago when I was a young preacher.
33:03 And at one time I was a young preacher, believe it or not.
33:06 And I had a boy and a girl; Ronnie and Diane.
33:11 And there was a law in our house.
33:13 And that law said that when Daddy was in his office
33:16 studying the Bible and writing his sermons,
33:19 you're not to disturb him.
33:20 That was the law of the Medes and Persians.
33:23 Fixed in cement.
33:26 One day I was studying the Bible and the door
33:29 was open just a crack.
33:30 And I heard a noise at the door, and I turned.
33:32 And there was my Diane looking in through the crack.
33:36 Beautiful.
33:37 I mean, blond hair and blue eyes sparkling.
33:43 Just picture me and then picture her.
33:45 I mean, beautiful, this girl.
33:49 And I said, "Diane."
33:52 And with that she started to run.
33:53 She remembered the law.
33:55 And I said, "Diane, stop." And she stopped.
33:57 You see, in those days when you said, "Stop," they stopped.
34:01 Now we have all kinds of books about it, and no one stops.
34:06 Time out.
34:07 Hey, I wish I had time out when I was a kid.
34:10 My daddy would say, "Time out," boom, and it was time out.
34:16 And so I said, "Honey, come here."
34:18 And she came as far as the door.
34:20 And there it was, the law, I mean.
34:21 And where the law was, grace did much more abound.
34:24 I said, "Come on in," and she bounded in.
34:27 And then she said something.
34:29 She had something behind her back.
34:30 She said, "Daddy, I have a gift for you."
34:34 Now you know the law went out the window.
34:36 Come on now.
34:38 I said, "Well Honey, give me the gift."
34:39 She says, "Oh no, guess."
34:42 Have you played the game?
34:44 And you know, she wanted to play a game.
34:46 I could, and so I imagined, I said,
34:48 "Well Honey, is it a new car?"
34:50 And she laughed and giggled, and her blue eyes sparkled.
34:54 "No, daddy."
34:55 I said, "Well, is it a new boat? I want to get a boat."
34:58 And she looked and said, "No, daddy."
35:00 I went on and on, all the things I wanted to have
35:03 and I couldn't have.
35:04 Finally I said, "I can't take it any more, honey.
35:06 Give me my gift."
35:07 And she took it out and there it was.
35:09 A picture of a lamb made with noodles.
35:12 A noodle lamb.
35:15 I took my best K- Mart painting off the wall
35:18 and I put up a noodle lamb.
35:21 The value of any gift is in the love of the giver.
35:27 And that's the Shepherd.
35:30 He gives up His life, and He owns me.
35:35 And He owns you.
35:37 But secondly, in verse 14, He knows His sheep.
35:43 We never need to feel disappointed.
35:45 Like the young British student who was waiting to see the king,
35:48 King Edward VII, with all the other children,
35:51 thousands of children gathered.
35:53 And the king walked by in splendor.
35:55 And they were watching and cheering.
35:58 And the king walked right by the little girl.
36:01 And when he got by she started to cry.
36:04 And the teacher said to her, "Well what's wrong, honey?"
36:07 She says, "Well the king didn't see me."
36:13 The king did not see me.
36:15 King Edward VII couldn't notice very little child in the crowd.
36:21 But the good Shepherd sees you.
36:27 And He loves you.
36:30 And it's interesting to me that the mountain shepherds
36:34 and their trained dogs know a single sheep among hundreds.
36:38 But the miracle is that the sheep knows the shepherd.
36:44 They hear the shepherd's voice.
36:46 You see, it isn't like here in America.
36:48 We drive the cattle.
36:50 We drive the sheep.
36:52 I mean, with lariat and horse and, "Whoa," yelling.
36:56 And they're pushing, pushing, pushing.
36:59 But not so in the Bible lands.
37:01 You see, they all mingled together, all the sheep
37:03 from all the different shepherds on the hills.
37:06 A 35 mile spread of grass for the sheep in Israel.
37:13 And the shepherds would call.
37:15 And the sheep would untangle themselves,
37:19 each going to their shepherd.
37:22 Wow.
37:23 Do you hear the voice of Jesus when He calls?
37:28 I mean, each shepherd; the shepherd knows the history,
37:34 it knows the defects, the temperament,
37:38 the tastes of his sheep.
37:40 And so does Jesus Christ.
37:42 We may not sin alike, but alike we all sin.
37:48 Fitting that Jesus is called the good Shepherd.
37:50 Our friend, I mean it's wonderful.
37:52 He owns us, He knows us, He leads us.
37:57 He leads us.
37:58 During a Sunday class the questions was asked,
38:01 "In your time of discouragement, what's your favorite Scripture?"
38:05 One young man raised his hand and said, "The Lord is my
38:08 Shepherd, I shall not want."
38:09 Sat down.
38:11 A middle aged woman said, "God is my refuge and my strength,
38:14 a very present help in time of trouble," Psalm 46:1.
38:19 Another woman said, "In the world you'll have tribulation;
38:21 but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world,"
38:24 John 16:33-35.
38:27 Then old Mr. John, 80 years old, with a head of white hair and
38:33 dark black skin, stood up and said his favorite verse was,
38:38 "And it came to pass."
38:41 Oh.
38:42 "Eighty-five times in the Bible," he said,
38:46 "'And it came to pass.'"
38:49 The class started to laugh.
38:52 I mean, thinking that old John had lack of memory, perhaps.
38:59 And then he said, "When I was thirty I lost my job,
39:03 with six hungry children's mouths to feed and a wife.
39:08 I didn't know how I would make it.
39:11 At forty, my eldest son was killed overseas in the war.
39:14 It knocked me down.
39:17 At fifty, my house was burned to the ground.
39:20 There was nothing left.
39:23 Nothing left.
39:24 At sixty, my wife of 40 years got cancer.
39:30 And for one year we prayed and wept together.
39:34 And she died at 65.
39:37 The agony I went through in each of these situations,
39:40 unbelievable.
39:42 I wondered where was God.
39:44 But each time I looked in the Bible and saw one of those
39:47 eighty-five verses, 'And it came to pass,'
39:50 I felt that God was telling me that in my pain
39:54 and in my circumstances it was going to pass
39:59 and God would get us through it.
40:04 God would get us through it."
40:06 Thirdly, the good Shepherd leads us.
40:10 It'd be hard for most of us to fully understand that,
40:13 because we, you know, drive the cattle.
40:16 He leads.
40:18 And He leads us to green pastures.
40:22 The problem in so many churches, they're prodding people.
40:28 They're pushing people.
40:30 I mean, they're forcing people.
40:33 Forcing their own ideas on people.
40:35 Forcing their own standards on people.
40:37 Pushing them and pushing them.
40:39 Jesus never, the good Shepherd, pushed them.
40:42 He loved them.
40:46 He loved them.
40:49 He's always up front leading.
40:51 He climbs before us.
40:54 Over the terrain, the rough terrain, He climbs before us.
40:57 Never prodding, never shouting, never forcing, but leading us.
41:01 How fitting Jesus is called the good Shepherd.
41:04 He leads us.
41:06 When I first started out as a young evangelist,
41:09 I've got to say, I prodded people.
41:13 I'm sorry for saying it.
41:15 I was so young and so enthusiastic
41:18 and so much wanting the people to be saved.
41:21 I was like a cowboy, not like a shepherd.
41:24 But the older I get, the more I understand this truth.
41:30 The Lord is my Shepherd.
41:33 And He leads.
41:35 Gently.
41:37 He leads us to eternal life and health.
41:40 He is my Shepherd.
41:45 And He does help us in time of need.
41:48 Some years ago, 14 years ago in fact,
41:51 I woke up in the middle of the night and a voice came and said,
41:55 "Get a colonoscopy."
41:58 I thought it was a nightmare. Come on, I mean.
42:01 I mean, I thought I had indigestion.
42:03 A colonoscopy? I went back to sleep.
42:05 Two nights later the Lord woke me up
42:10 and said, "Ron, get a colonoscopy."
42:12 His voice.
42:15 So I called my doctor the next day, I said,
42:16 "Doc, I need a colonoscopy."
42:18 He said, "Well, why?" And he named these symptoms.
42:20 I didn't have symptoms. I was jumping fences.
42:22 A little smaller now, but I was jumping fences.
42:27 And I said, "Well, the Lord told me."
42:29 And he said, "Well, do you have something else?"
42:33 I said, "No, I don't have a better idea than that."
42:35 The Lord showed me.
42:36 So he did a colonoscopy.
42:38 Found a very aggressive cancer.
42:40 Up on the right side beyond the appendix.
42:44 The worse place you could have it and the worse type of cancer.
42:47 In fact, later my doctor, and also the oncologist,
42:51 told me that 90 some percent of the people die from that cancer.
42:57 And so I had surgery.
42:59 I went to the oncologist, he came out shaking his head.
43:01 "I've never seen this," he said, "in all the
43:03 years I've practiced.
43:04 You don't need radiation, you don't need chemo.
43:07 You can go home, you're cured."
43:11 I said, "Doc, do you believe in miracles?"
43:13 He said, "Yes."
43:15 And that was a miracle.
43:17 He leads me through.
43:18 When I first heard that, you know,
43:20 that's a hard thing to hear.
43:23 And I sat up in bed that night and I said, "Lord,
43:26 whatever happens, I'll be faithful to You to the end.
43:31 Because You are my Shepherd, and I have no fear.
43:34 You leadeth me beside the still waters.
43:37 And I'm here now.
43:39 Take Your sheep.
43:41 Bring me to safety into the fold."
43:44 And surely, a few weeks later I was out preaching
43:48 the Word of God.
43:49 Listen to me.
43:51 When we lie down on stones of trial and persecution,
43:54 I mean, when our sickness, our bodies are racked with
43:58 sickness and pain, He is still our Shepherd.
44:02 He knew what it was like.
44:04 In all points tempted like as we are.
44:07 Keep in mind that the Shepherd has been there before you,
44:09 the valley of death.
44:10 He's been there first.
44:14 And He leads His sheep.
44:16 Thieves and robbers may call the sheep by name,
44:19 try to imitate the Shepherd's voice,
44:21 but through long usage and intimacy with the Shepherd
44:25 you'll know the true voice.
44:26 People, listen, as you watch this program you'll say,
44:29 "I want to know the truth. I want to know..."
44:31 Well listen for the true Shepherd.
44:34 Get acquainted with Jesus Christ.
44:37 Study the life of Christ.
44:39 Pray to Him, understand Him,
44:41 and you'll hear His voice.
44:43 And with all the other voices clamoring for your attention,
44:46 you'll hear His voice.
44:47 And He will lead you through the robbers
44:50 that try to rob you of your dignity
44:52 and rob you of the truth.
44:53 And you will find the way in green pastures.
44:57 He owns His sheep.
44:59 He knows His sheep.
45:01 He leads His sheep.
45:04 But fourthly, He lays down His life for His sheep.
45:09 Wow.
45:11 Charles Dickens wrote a book called, The Tale of Two Cities.
45:16 It presents a classic illustration of this.
45:18 Set during the French Revolution,
45:20 it's a story of two friends.
45:22 Two buddies; Charles Darnay and Sidney Carton.
45:29 Darnay is a young Frenchman who has been thrown in a dungeon
45:32 to await the guillotine.
45:35 Carton is a wasted English lawyer whose life has been
45:38 nothing but careless sin, reprobation.
45:44 In a beautiful allegory of Christ's atonement for us,
45:48 Carton slips into the dungeon.
45:50 Look at this.
45:52 He exchanges his clothes with the prisoner,
45:55 allowing Darnay to escape to go back to his family.
45:59 And the next morning, Sidney Carton makes his
46:02 way up the steps that leads to the guillotine.
46:05 This is the same love that God has shown.
46:08 He wrapped Himself in human flesh.
46:11 He walked up to the guillotine, the cross.
46:13 And He died knowing and loving and caring for His sheep.
46:18 Hallelujah. Praise God.
46:22 He paid the price for His sheep.
46:28 He lays down His life.
46:30 Twice over He uses that phrase.
46:34 How sweet is that story, but how radical is that statement,
46:39 "I lay down my life."
46:40 Twice over He used, "I have power to take it again."
46:46 The text is powerful.
46:48 I mean, it's radical.
46:49 A revelation of the willingness of Jesus
46:52 to sacrifice His all for His sheep.
46:54 He laid down His life.
46:56 He gave it up, He surrendered it.
46:59 Surrendered it.
47:02 It was not taken by Roman legionnaires.
47:07 It was not taken by Caiaphas.
47:11 It was not taken by Jewish rabble.
47:14 It was voluntarily given, the life of Jesus Christ
47:16 the Shepherd.
47:18 And there's two meanings to the laying down of a life.
47:22 First of all, laying down a life is a pledge; paying the price.
47:26 And that's exactly what Jesus did.
47:28 For without the shedding of blood,
47:29 there's no remission of sin.
47:32 And since we're all sinners, we need that blood
47:34 for the remission of sin.
47:37 And so He willingly sheds His blood,
47:39 willingly lays down His life;
47:42 and in a pledge, He's paying the price.
47:45 He could have walked away from Calvary.
47:47 "You can't take My life.
47:49 Legionnaires with your swords and your spears,
47:54 you cannot take My life.
47:57 I lay it down willingly."
48:00 And secondly, it's laying aside a life as a garment.
48:07 A garment.
48:08 You see, at Bethlehem He took the garment of flesh.
48:12 There in Bethlehem this Jesus, this Messiah,
48:15 came into the world as a little baby.
48:17 And the people, the religious people, weren't ready for that.
48:20 They wanted their King to come as a king.
48:22 They wanted their Messiah to come with majestic power
48:25 and overthrow Rome, and set up a temple in Jerusalem,
48:28 and set up a throne, and sit upon a throne.
48:30 And so they had created their own idea of Messiah.
48:33 And then the Messiah came as a babe helpless in a manger.
48:36 He came to a crib, and then to a cross, and then to a crypt
48:40 to show us how God loved us.
48:46 They couldn't take His life.
48:50 He laid it aside like a garment.
48:54 I mean, tattered by trials, His human flesh,
48:59 by pain and suffering.
49:01 We must ever keep in mind that Jesus died, rose again,
49:04 by His own volition.
49:06 It means God sentenced sin, God ordered sin's execution,
49:11 in the Person and the death of the good Shepherd,
49:14 the Lord Jesus Christ.
49:15 Think of it, the good Shepherd was assaulted
49:18 that the sheep might be shielded.
49:22 Think of it, the good Shepherd was smitten
49:24 that the sheep might be healed.
49:27 Think of it, the good Shepherd was lacerated
49:31 that the sheep may be liberated.
49:34 Think of it, the good Shepherd was slain
49:37 that the sheep might be secure forever and have eternal life.
49:44 He is the good Shepherd.
49:46 He met all the tortures of condemnation
49:51 for our justification.
49:53 He met all the tortures of condemnation
49:56 for our sanctification.
49:59 And He met all the tortures of condemnation
50:04 for our glorification.
50:07 Listen carefully, this is eternally important.
50:12 Those of you who are viewing this program
50:14 wherever around the world, listen carefully.
50:16 This might be the most important words you hear from the pulpit.
50:20 Listen as God speaks.
50:23 Without the good Shepherd, in death there is no assurance.
50:29 Listen carefully.
50:31 Without the good Shepherd, in sorrow there is no comfort.
50:37 Without the good Shepherd, in disaster there is no courage.
50:41 Without the good Shepherd, in temptation there is no
50:44 strength to victory.
50:45 Without the good Shepherd, in sin there is no grace.
50:51 And the Scripture says, "All we, like sheep, have gone astray."
50:58 It matters little as to how we have gone astray.
51:04 Doesn't matter how far we've gone astray.
51:07 Doesn't matter.
51:09 God, the good Shepherd, pulls us out of the ditch.
51:12 God, the good Shepherd, pulls us out of the gutter.
51:16 God, the good Shepherd...
51:17 I mean, listen to me.
51:19 Doesn't matter how far we've gone astray.
51:21 He seeks us and wins us.
51:28 We must give allegiance,
51:30 absolute ownership, and authority to Jesus Christ.
51:36 Tragically, many have not come under His absolute control,
51:39 His absolute authority.
51:40 He must become their Shepherd.
51:42 It is one thing to know the good Shepherd,
51:46 to know those sheep.
51:48 But it's another thing, listen, to know the good Shepherd.
51:54 Some years ago, many years ago, Charlton Heston,
51:58 John Charles Carter, real name, was a popular actor
52:03 in the second half of the twentieth century.
52:05 He was the one, I believe, that did The Ten Commandments.
52:09 And his great voice, speaking voice.
52:12 I mean, he had won several awards in the film;
52:16 The Ten Commandments, El Cid, Ben-Hur, and others.
52:20 During his prime in Hollywood, Reverend Billy Graham
52:23 also became a well known preacher and an evangelist
52:26 honored by all evangelical churches of his denomination.
52:30 There was one event in Washington, D.C.
52:32 where they were invited, both men.
52:35 And most probable, their names were in a
52:38 list of special guests.
52:39 And during the event, Charles Heston was asked
52:41 to recite the twenty-third psalm.
52:44 And he agreed to do that.
52:47 And so Charlton Heston stood up and recited
52:51 the twenty-third psalm.
52:54 And when he had finished, there was emotion and enthusiasm.
52:58 And the people applauded, and stood and applauded.
53:04 Charlton Heston.
53:05 Then it was Billy Graham's time.
53:09 And he got up and he read the twenty-third psalm.
53:14 With a convincing voice that God had used to earn millions
53:18 of souls into the kingdom of Christ,
53:21 he recited the twenty-third psalm
53:23 in the same manner as Charlton Heston did.
53:27 The crowd did not applaud.
53:29 The hall did not roar.
53:31 There was no standing ovation.
53:33 But almost everyone had tears rolling down their face.
53:37 At the end of the event, a journalist approached
53:40 Charlton Heston and asked, "What made the difference?"
53:44 And he politely answered, "Sir, I know the twenty-third psalm,
53:52 but Billy knows the Shepherd."
53:57 Billy knows the Shepherd.
54:00 I make an appeal to you tonight.
54:02 To our listening audience, viewing audience,
54:06 I make an appeal to you.
54:08 Let the Shepherd take ownership in your life.
54:12 Let the Shepherd restore your life
54:18 and make a change in your life.
54:21 And He will be willing to do that.
54:23 Carl Ketcherside served as a worker in the inner city.
54:31 He gave his life to teenagers.
54:34 And he described a crew of ripped-off, long haired kids
54:39 with drug addiction.
54:40 And he loved them.
54:42 He listened to them.
54:44 And one by one, he baptized them into Christ.
54:47 And a fluent member of the church asked him one day,
54:50 "How are you making out with those hippies?
54:52 Those long haired, sad looking specimens
54:55 you've been meeting with?"
54:58 And Carl responded, "Those are not specimens.
55:02 They are the children of God.
55:04 You're talking about my brethren in the Lord."
55:08 Condescendingly, the man continued, "They look to me
55:11 like something the cat dragged in."
55:14 And Carl replied, "They look to me like someone the Shepherd
55:20 has brought home."
55:22 Has brought home.
55:28 I was preaching in one place;
55:31 and ragtag muffins, hippie group.
55:37 In those days, the 60's you know, it was the hippies,
55:40 the yippies, the long-gums, the freebie gypsies.
55:42 I had a coffee house in Greenwich Village where we
55:46 ministered to the street people and invited them in.
55:48 And we had Christian poetry and music.
55:51 And, you know, they loved the guitar.
55:53 And they would come in.
55:54 And people would say to me,
55:57 "What are you doing with those people?"
56:00 What?
56:01 I'm doing what the Shepherd would do.
56:04 Seeking out His lost sheep.
56:10 You are a sheep,
56:12 I am a sheep,
56:15 for which Christ died.
56:17 You are someone the Shepherd wants to bring home.
56:21 And so I encourage you, right now wherever you are,
56:27 to open your heart to the Shepherd.
56:30 Listen to the Shepherd call.
56:31 He says if you confess your sins, He's faithful and just
56:35 to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you
56:37 from all unrighteousness.
56:39 Maybe you've backslidden, you've walked away from the Shepherd.
56:42 You need to return.
56:44 Let the Shepherd bring you back, woo you back, win you back.
56:48 And come into the fold so that someday soon you'll be in that
56:53 great fold in the kingdom of heaven,
56:56 in the name of Christ.
56:58 Let us pray.
57:00 Father God, I thank You for the love of Christ,
57:05 for the grace of God.
57:08 And I thank You that You are our good Shepherd.
57:12 Lead us, direct our paths.
57:16 And then bring us into the fold.
57:18 Not because we're worthy;
57:19 because we are dirty, scraggly sheep.
57:23 But because You are the good Shepherd.
57:26 Show Your goodness to us tonight.
57:28 In Jesus' name, amen and amen.


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Revised 2015-06-01