Good Shepherd

If you would, please turn over to Luke 2. I'd like to open with this verse today, Luke 2.

You may have already heard or seen reference to this verse already in this season of the year, Luke 2. And verse 8, familiar scene, familiar verse, but let's read it. It says, Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Here it is talking about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. And a familiar scene that you see portrayed many different ways at this time of year as the world gets caught up into the winter soddernalia and the episode of Christmas. But just to look at this, this is not a Christmas sermon today by any means. What it says and what it tells us is that the shepherds were in the fields and they were keeping watch over their flock by night. And it's a beautiful pastoral scene. This is a sermon today about shepherds and what they do, not about Christmas.

I think all of you got that down already, so we don't need to go over that again. If anybody does, we can give you a booklet or an article or something.

It says that the shepherds were watching over their flock by night. Beautiful, beautiful scene. A well-known image from all the scriptures that we all know talks about and really shows the relationship between God and His people, between Christ and His church, between a minister and the members as well. The idea of shepherd and sheep is woven throughout the scriptures to describe at various times all of those entities. The kings of Israel are referred to as shepherds. God is, Christ is, and the people, either the people of Israel or a Christian, members of the church of God, are looked upon and considered in that particular way as sheep. And that analogy of a shepherd and watching over his sheep is well known to us. If we turn over to John chapter 21, Jesus is one of His appearances after His resurrection with the disciples in John 21. They're on the Sea of Galilee where they were having a, He was having a fish fry with the disciples.

He had this last conversation here in the book with Peter. There were no, we also know about John chapter 21. And in verse 15, when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? And He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, feed my lambs. Now, remember, Peter had betrayed Christ just a few days before, before his death, after the third time of the crowing of the rooster. And He singles Peter out here with his, no doubt, a piercing gaze and decisive words. And He said to him a second time in verse 16, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And He said to him, tend my sheep. Feed my lambs and tend my sheep. And so again, here is this instruction to Peter, a direct charge, which also went to all the other disciples and stands as an instruction for a minister today. Tend my sheep, feed my lambs, stand watch over them by night in the darkness, in the spiritual darkness at all times, watch over my people. In 1 Peter chapter 5, Peter remembered this, and he put under God's inspiration to pen one of the most direct and really instructive set of instructions for the ministry in 1 Peter chapter 5.

Years later, as he no doubt looked back and remembered what Jesus said to him, feed my flock, and he wrote here in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 1, he said, to the elders who are among you I exhort, speaking to the ministry, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. So in four verses, he really gives some direct instruction to the ministry to act as a shepherd over the flock of God. And if you do it right, willingly, meaning that you're not coerced into doing it, you take it willingly, you're not there by compulsion, and you're not there for the money, but you do it because out of an eager heart, and you recognize it as a calling, and you dedicate yourself in a sacrificial way, which is essentially what any minister has to do. It is a sacrificial life. Yes, we get a paycheck. Yes, we like to eat just like you do. And not don't need to go hand to mouth or begging from week to week, and it's good to live on an orderly life and an orderly budget and know how to plan. But it's not for the money, and it should not be. That's enough said on that, but that is the instruction here. And he said, you know, you do it right, you do it without lording it over, but recognizing that people are entrusted to you. And it's again, it's a stewardship. The people of God do not belong to any man. They do not belong to any minister. They belong to God. You belong to God. I belong to God. We all belong together. We are God's heritage. We are His people. But in the terms of the relationship, the spiritual care, tending, and feeding between a minister and the membership, every minister who stands in this role must understand, as he says here, that they are entrusted to you. That means that it is a trust given, you know, the care and relationship that is there is a trust that is given from someone else who owns us all, which is Christ Himself. We're bought and paid for by His sacrifice. But you don't belong to me. You don't belong to any man. You belong to God. We all do. And that must always be kept in mind as a minister does his job and as he sets that example. So that dictates how he conducts himself, how he looks at his job, how he looks at every sermon, every visit, every action and plan that must be done, and the entire panorama of work that has to be done between, you know, in the care of a congregation, the management of the day-to-day affairs of people's lives. It is a spiritual work. A minister deals with the inner life of people, your inner life, which is another way of putting your spiritual life. But the things that we deal with are the inner lives and thoughts and the heart and the feelings and the emotions, the hopes and dreams of people like you. The ultimate hope and dream is eternal life in God's kingdom. We dedicate and commit our lives to that. And so as a minister, every minister must handle himself, speak, talk, fellowship, visit, think, and plan and pray to nurture and to help the inner life of every everyone that is in his care.

Stop and think about that. Then it puts everything that a minister does into a very sobering perspective. How the words he uses, the actions that he takes, the decisions that he makes, regarding everything from walking in the door of the church, standing up and giving announcements, giving a sermon, visiting, counseling, praying for, anointing, all the entire work of what it means to be a minister and to stand in that spiritual sense as a guide and teacher of people whose hope and dream and plan is the kingdom of God. It's the nurturing of the inner life. And so a minister is charged with that daily care and it is a sacred trust. I've been doing working at this for more than 37 years. It is all I've ever done in my adult life.

I've loved every moment of it. I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life. There came a point in my life where that's what I wanted to do after training and recognition of the opportunity that was presented and then coming to a conviction of a calling from God. So it's everything that I've wanted to do with my life. I have no regrets.

And so that's how I stand to this day. It has its moments. Sometimes you wonder what would I have done otherwise or what if I had taken a different course in life. I've always said, well, it probably would have wound up teaching. It probably would have been a history teacher. It's the only thing I can imagine. I don't know that I would have. Maybe I would have sold used cars. I don't know. But this is what I've done. This is who I am and I can't imagine having done anything else. In thinking and reflecting on this matter of being a shepherd, looking at the scriptural teaching, there's one chapter that I'd like to walk us through that helps us to understand this. And this is a very good time in the church for us to look at the role of a shepherd and also your role as sheep in responding to a shepherd because it's a mutual responsibility and a mutual pact that we make. But if you go back to the book of Ezekiel, in chapter 34, you will find a chapter here that speaks directly to the shepherds. And it's given by God through Ezekiel in this prophecy against the shepherds, in talking about the shepherds of Israel. And this is, of course, given after the time of Israel's captivity and part of God's indictment as to the spiritual and moral problems of Israel that led to its captivity. And it's relating to the political leaders as well as the religious leaders that are all seemingly lumped together under this title of the shepherds of Israel. In verse 2, or the first one, it says, The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.

Prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord, God to the shepherds. Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the flocks.

Do you just feed yourself, or do you feed the flocks? Woe to those who feed only themselves.

Going on, you eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you've not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost. But with force and cruelty you've ruled them. That can happen at times. A person, whether a political leader, still responsible for people, a political leader is elected to take care of many different needs, economically or whatever, of a constituency. Certainly a minister has responsibility and a certain level of authority. And at times, if that's abused, the idea of force and cruelty, the rulership, can come into play here. Verse 5, because of this, so they were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. Wolves, lions, other problems. He says, My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yes, my flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, says the Lord God, surely, because my flock became a prey, they were watched over, my flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherd search for my flock. But the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock. Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand. Again, remember, the sheep belong to God. The membership belongs to God, not to anyone. I will require my flock at their hand. I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more. For I will deliver my flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.

And so, here in 10 verses is a description of some very, very bad shepherds who don't stand watch by night over their flocks, and the flock wander off, and they get into trouble. They wander off, and they are eaten by wolves. They can't find their way back. They drink bad water. They go without. Now, in verse 11, the scene has since changed, and God is pictured here as the true shepherd and as a chief shepherd. And so, in verse 11, verse 12, for thus says the Lord God, Indeed, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold, and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek what was lost, and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken, and strengthen what was sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment. And so God here pictures Himself as the Good Shepherd, who will at some point draw a line, and He will go after His own. He knows who His own are, which is a very comforting matter, because you know sometimes no matter how bad a shepherd might be, and sometimes how scattered people might be, God knows who are His.

And He will always provide. Remember, Christ said to the church, He said, I will be with you even unto the end of the age. The church is never going to die. The church is never going to be shattered and non-existent. There will be a time of scattering, but God will bring back His people. He knows where they are, and He will restore them.

This section of a Good Shepherd is one that Jesus Himself must have had in mind. Hold your place here in Ezekiel 34. We'll come back to it. And turn over to John 10.

John 10.

Here, Jesus identifies Himself as the true shepherd, beginning in verse 1.

John 10. Most assuredly I say to you, He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. He said to them again in verse 7, Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and I am known by my own. As the father knows me, even so I know the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Another sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

And so, again, this echoes what we just read back in Ezekiel 34, verses 11 through 16. Jesus identifies himself with that good shepherd, as God described there in Ezekiel 34. Now, in John 17, verse 1, Christ made another statement in his prayer in terms of how he had cared for those that were his during his earthly ministry. He said in John 17, verse 6, I have manifested your name to the man whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours. You gave them to me. They have kept your word.

And he knew that the men given to him were gods, and they were kept. Not one was lost, except for Judas, and he's not lost forever. But he kept those. He kept them in God's name. So this idea of a shepherd is, again, very well known in Scripture. And there are so many parallels and so many rich lessons to learn from this idea of a shepherd in Christ as a shepherd. A minister as a shepherd, members as sheep. All of us as sheep relating to God and his care for us.

Thinking about this sermon, I pulled a book off my shelf that I hadn't looked at for some time.

It's a book that is called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, written by Philip Keller. This was written back in the early 70s, I believe. I remember this is that's when I bought this version of it. 1970, actually, was when it was written. It's still in print. The ladies, have you read this up here? You have. It is a very good book, and I would highly recommend it for any of us, any of you, to read if you want to understand. It's written from the point of view of a shepherd, a guy who spent many, many years actually being a sheep herder. And he just goes through Psalm 23, and he shows what that means and the everyday examples of it. It's very well written, very easy to understand. It's not going to corrupt or taint anybody, so don't worry about that. But what he talks about in here is very, very interesting and very, very informative walk through Psalm 23 and this idea of how we relate to God. Let's go back to Ezekiel 34. Ezekiel 34. This goes on. This is a very compelling chapter.

We've talked about bad shepherds. We've talked about God as the true shepherd. God also talks to the sheep. And here's where he brings in the responsibility of each of us. And I would say to each of you as a member in the church, you have responsibilities too. A shepherd has responsibilities to keep watch by night, to care for, to be vigilant, diligent in every way and all of those qualities. But also, sheep have to do their part.

And God doesn't eliminate that here. Beginning in verse 17, he says, As for you, uh-oh, listen up, O flock, O my flock, thus says the Lord God, behold, I will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. So God's watching and he says, you have, you know, I'm going to judge you as well.

Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture that you might have? You must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture, kind of a romping, treading down of good land, to have drunk of the clear waters that you must foul the residue with your feet. You ever watched sheep or cattle muddy up a pond or a stream? As they all get in there and kind of walk around and do their thing, you can foul the residue of a water.

He's saying, you can do that by your actions. As for my flock, they eat what they've trampled with their feet, and they drink what you've fouled with your feet. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, to them, behold, I myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep, because you've pushed with side and shoulder, butted with the weak ones, with your horns, and scattered them abroad. Therefore, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be a prey. Sometimes sheep get to having conflict in and among themselves.

I will save my flock, they shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, my servant David. Verse 24, I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David, apprents among them, I the Lord have spoken it.

And so what he's saying here in verses 18 and 19 especially is, sheep can have some bad habits too that create problems within the flock. Keller in his book, though in the 23rd Psalm, spends some time talking about that. I wanted to read just a passage. It's from page 3038, 39, 40, where he does talk about this. It's within the context of the section of Psalm 23, where he says, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. The idea of when sheep lie down, they're content. But for a sheep to lie down in contentment, certain conditions have to be met.

That'd be free of fear, tension, pests, kind of well fed, well watered. Otherwise, they're not going to lay down in contentment. And what he says here, he says, the second source of fear from which the sheep, the sheep men, will deliver his sheep is that of tension, rivalry, and cruel competition within the flock. So a shepherd has to make sure that this rivalry within the flock and tension doesn't get out of hand. In every animal society, there is established an order of dominance or status within the group.

In a penful of chickens, it's referred to as the pecking order. With cattle, it's called the horning order. Among sheep, we speak of the budding order. Generally, an arrogant, cunning, and domineering old ewe will be boss of any bunch of sheep. She maintains her position of prestige by budding and driving other ewes or lambs away from the best grazing or favorite bedgrounds. Succeeding her in precise order, the other sheep all established and maintained their exact position in the flock by using the same tactics of budding and thrusting at these below and around them.

A vivid, accurate word picture of this process is given to us in Ezekiel 34 where we just read. This is a startling example, in fact, of the scientific accuracy of the Scriptures in describing a natural phenomenon.

Because of this rivalry, tension, and competition for status and self-assertion, there is friction in a flock. The sheep cannot lie down and rest in contentment. Always they must stand up and defend their rights and contest the challenge of the intruder. Hundreds of times I've watched an austere old ewe walk up to a younger one which might have been feeding contentedly or resting quietly in some sheltered spot. She would arch her neck, tilt her head, dilate her eyes, and approach the other with a stiff-legged gait.

All of this was saying in unmistakable terms, move over, out of my way, give ground or else. If the other ewe did not immediately leap to her feet in self-defense, she would be butted unmercifully. Or if she did rise to accept the challenge, one or two strong thrusts would soon end, send her scurrying for safety.

This continuous conflict and jealousy within the flock must be, can be, a most detrimental thing. The sheep become edgy, tense, discontented, and restless. They lose weight and become irritable. And so it's one of the qualities that, as he brings it out here, that has to be managed or eliminated by the shepherd if they are to be able to lie down in green pastures, as Psalm 23 talks about here. So it's an interesting observation because at times these things happen. He goes on to talk about the other, some of the other problems that come. And he mentions wild animals. They have to be kept at bay as well. Freedom from the fear of predators is also an important part of a good shepherd in order to fulfill that particular section. You know, again, holding your place here in Ezekiel 34, turn over to Acts chapter 19 because the Apostle Paul had something to say about this when he was speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus on a trip through there that he knew would be his last trip through the city and among them. And so he gathered the elders of the church and it was a large city, would have been a sizable congregation. And he spoke to them in Acts chapter 19. I'm sorry, it's Acts chapter 20 here. It begins in verse 17 where he went to Ephesus and he called for the elders of the church, Acts 20 verse 17. And he rehearsed his manner of being a minister and being a shepherd. He says, I've served you with humility. Verse 19, I've kept back nothing. It was helpful. In verse 20, I taught you. And he said, now in verse 22, I'm going to Jerusalem bound, not knowing what's going to happen except that the Holy Spirit testifies and everything. Verse 24, he says, but none of these things moved me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I might finish my race with joy in the ministry which I've received and the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you, all among whom I've gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify you this day that I'm innocent of the blood of all man. Verse 28, therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. For I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. That's another way of describing a hireling that Jesus talked about in John 10, someone who looks upon a group of people or the flock as their own. Therefore, watch, in verse 31, remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every one night and day with tears. And so he does invoke this idea to these elders, keep watch. Watch. Just like the scene of Luke 2 in verse 8, where it says they were shepherds were watching by night in the fields. Keep watch. Be vigilant. And don't let anyone come in. He warned them of wolves. And that has been a constant problem of the church from the first century all the way down to our present day. It is a prophecy. It is a warning. It is a fact of history. It is an ever-present danger that the church must and a good minister must always watch for. Certainly that he never becomes a wolf in his own self and fall privy to this description.

To draw people away for himself, to follow him, or to speak things that are not right, perverse things. But to shepherd the church which he purchased with his own blood.

And not to speak perverse things, wrong things, discouraging things, fearful things, false teaching even. To draw people away for themselves, to draw away the disciples after themselves. These are the elements that Paul talked about. So, you know, every minister has to watch that he doesn't do that, doesn't become a wolf, as well as every minister has to also watch out for wolves that might enter, appearing to be sheep in sheep's clothing, as he says here. Very graphic, very direct, very plain, it's not hard to understand. This is not rocket science.

I once knew a wolf. Would you like to hear about him?

I once knew a wolf, and he devoured the flock. Our first year in the ministry, 1973 to 1974, we were serving, we had been sent to a congregation in the Carolinas. I was a greenhorn, wet behind the ear, ministerial trainee, as we called them in those days. I was on a one-year probation. The way we were hired and sent out in those days, you were sent out after the first year of the ministry. The way we were hired and sent out in those days, you were sent out after three or four years of Ambassador College, all the book learning, all the classes, all the speech classes, all the Bible classes. I didn't have this Bible, but I had my Oxford wide margin Bible, and I had it all full of good notes. I was ready. I had all the information. I was all of 22 years of age. New at all. Worldly wise. For those of you listening in, or will listen to this later, my tongue is in my cheek. And I was sent to assist a pastor, and he had an associate pastor, in a two-church circuit that had upwards of over 800 members. It was a very large congregation, lots of going on, covering a big area, and lots of growth. The first time I walked into my boss's office in his basement, he had a stack of letters from prospective members who had written in in response to the World Tomorrow Television program, which at that time was on every day of the week, just prior to the Today Show on NBC, on the local affiliate there in Charlotte, North Carolina. People were writing in, and he had a stack of letters that he couldn't even get to.

And I spent my first three or four months working with the associate, letter by letter, visiting those people, and going to their homes and making calls, which was a very interesting experience. But there was a disturbance in the force at that time. There were problems. There was discontent among the ministry. There were rumblings, and problems began to develop. There were charges against the authority of the church at that time. The leadership of the church was corrupt. There were charges of moral problems. There were charges of doctrinal inaccuracy, even at the time. And ministers were banding together. This wasn't the day that there was no internet in those days, but it was telephone calls, meetings, secret meetings, letters, conspiracy, and division building. I got caught up in it. The minister that hired me, the director of the ministry at that time, the man who hired me was a man that I looked to. I thought he was a man of integrity. I thought he was a man of principle, and had no reason to suspect otherwise. And he was a part of this particular movement, to break off, or to seek a different following. Because this individual was a part of it, I thought, well, there must be something here. There must be something going on here that I can't see. And my boss was there, and the associate was caught up in it, and some of these problems seemed to be very real. Well, things built and built and built, and there came a point where at some point we had to make a decision. I was talking with another group this week about this, and this is, if I could pass along just a little point, there's a time to step back and always keep your perspective, and keep a sense of perspective in any time of crisis or trial, whether it's in the church, in your job, in your personal life. Sometimes it's good to take a step back, and check yourself, check those around you, check, certainly, you know, check the spirit. The Bible talks about discerning the spirits at times. And in that particular time, Debbie's father gave me a piece of advice that caused me to step back. And when I stepped back, I got out of the loop. And I was no longer privy to the information. I was cut out of the meetings, out of the information loop, and things began to go a different way. And we weren't leaving the church. We weren't going to become further caught up in the conspiracy, the accusations, in the spirit of that particular moment. We had secret meetings. I mean, I had I won't go into all of that. I don't have the time for it at this particular time. But I wasn't even ordained. And again, my wide margin Oxford Bible, with all the notes in it, didn't have the information I needed for that particular crisis. And I hadn't been trained for that. What I called heresy 101, or church division 101. We didn't have a class on that in Ambassador College. This was real-time experience. Eventually, the church split. Sixty percent of the members left. My pastor left. The associate pastor resigned. We were left with about 40% of those numbers in both congregations. And this was all up and down the eastern seaboard. It was a very traumatic time in the church. Once this finally broke, this storm broke over the church. And it was a testing time for a lot of people. It was a defining moment for us. People were scattered. Most of those people never came back. They wound up starting their own organization with differing, and they went off into a doctrinal division.

Those that remained were sobered and were very faithful. It was in that period of time that they, you know, I began working with Vernon Hargrove, who became the pastor and spent a couple of years working with him, and really got some very, very good training at that time. The pastor I was working with initially, he had no time for me. I won't go through all of that, but I came to realize later that he really needed a... he needed an elder that had some experience. He didn't need a trainee. He didn't have time to train. And he didn't have the inclination to do it either. And I was a botherance and a hindrance to him, but nonetheless, I did eventually get some good training from a seasoned pastor and count that experience as one of the best relationships that I've ever developed in all of my years, and were still friends and peers down to this very day.

And so that man, that minister that I worked under during that period of time, acted as a wolf. Because he eventually... he just disappeared. I've never seen him from the very day we parted and last saw each other. I've never seen him again. I don't know whatever happened to him. I've googled his name a few times, but it's such a common name that about 5,000 searches come back. So I don't know whatever happened to him. And I do know that he and his wife divorced, and he probably went back into the business and left the ministry and the people that followed him, they just scattered to the winds. Scattered to the winds. You know, we're working through our issues today, and since 1974 there have been other periods in the church of upheaval and crisis. As I've said before, it is a biblical pattern that you can turn to Revelation 12 and walk through from the time of Christ, certainly, all the way to the very time of the end of the age of Satan's onslaught against the church and against the people of God.

And so it just is a fact of life, and we have to always be on guard and walk and work our way through it. Today we face an interesting situation where it is not doctrine, but some of the same elements there are still there of challenge to authority, of secrecy, of other problems that are becoming coming to the fore that we're going to work our way through.

I say myself and know that it's a relationship problem. It's a matter of trust, and ultimately it's a matter of love. I have said time and time again that our problems are because we do not love one another in the way that God tells us to love one another with the love of Christ. As Christ prayed in John 17, we have not always done that, and it is a challenge. Christ said, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another.

And until we get to that point where we have that type of love, as Christ said we should, we will dissolve into distrust and have relationship problems at any level that we may have. These are soft issues, but they're always the hardest ones to sort out among people, yet they're the core of Christianity. This week in our council meetings we set as the theme of the next meeting of the ministry in May, serving as Christ serves. We in the ministry need to get back to and model a Christ-centered leadership and servant service as he serves as he served and continues to serve as the head of the church. And we need to get it and get it right. It won't be done in one meeting, it won't be done in one year, it won't be done in two years, but it is what we need to keep hammering away at to have that type of leadership, service, and shepherding that Christ modeled for us and continues to model for us. He is the chief shepherd. He is the one watching over us and guiding us. We are his flock. Every minister must remember that and seek to guard the flock, to serve the flock, and to stand guard over them by night, not leave them. Pastards are shepherds under Jesus Christ, charged with the job of caring for the daily matters of the inner life of the people of God, entrusted to his care. He stays at his post. He does not leave it.

That is a scriptural command and injunction, and he does not speak perverse things to draw people away after himself. He doesn't do it. He serves as Christ serves the church. Let's look in the few minutes that I have left here. Let's just review a little bit of the qualities of a good shepherd. Just to conclude my story, I once knew a wolf. I've seen others come and go over the years, but they are a very real thing. But I worked for one for about nine months in the early years and months of my ministry, my time in the ministry. So I know a wolf, and I know how they operate. And I've seen enough, and I've seen one up close and personal to know how not to do it and not to be. And I've never wanted to be like that, what I saw in the first months of my time in the ministry of the church. Let me just illustrate a few qualities of a good shepherd so that we all understand that as we conclude here. Number one, he leads the flock. He leads the flock. In John 10 and verse 4, where we've already read, John chapter 10 verse 4, says, when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A shepherd every day leads his flock out into the field, and he leads them back in at night, and he counts them to make sure that they're all taken care of, they're all accounted for. But he brings them out, and he goes before them. He leads the flock. He takes them to good pastureage, good water, makes them to lie down. And so a good shepherd is leading in a godly way by his example, by his teaching, in that right way. Number two, he watches over them.

We've read in Luke 2.8 that the shepherds were keeping watch by night in the fields.

You know, a shepherd, you know, if they, in parts of the world, even to this day, when they are out on pastureage, the shepherd stays with them. He doesn't go back to Motel 6.

He pitches a tent or does what he has to do. He's right there through the night, because that's at nighttime, when things are dark, things can happen.

You know the story. If you've ever lived on a farm or you've seen the movies, that's when the coyotes come in. That's when the foxes come in. And a good rancher or farmer's got his gun by his bed or by the door. And if he hears the chickens or the sheep or whatever unsettled in commotion, he better not roll over and go back to sleep. Something's out there in the chicken coop. Something's out there to get him. And he goes out and he takes care of it. He watches over. He stays on the job. And he has to be vigilant. Quite frankly, a job of a pastor is one of vigilance.

We get time off. We have vacation time accrued and allotted to us. I probably should take more than I do. I usually always have. Mine is usually full up. If I take three days off, I send it in, tell them I'm taking three days off, so I get my account debited. But I don't know when it's ever been below two weeks. We technically get three weeks, but I don't know when mine's ever been below two weeks.

Again, I should take more time off, I guess, but there's so much to do. And you just have to be there. And even when you're gone, these days you've got your phone with you. Or the internet. I mean, so you can reach me. And I have this bad habit of forwarding my phone calls to my cell phone. So that, you know, if I'm in Ohio visiting family or whatever and the phone rings, it may be you, it may be somebody else. But it's rare that I would just turn it off or just ignore it completely. Whatever your job is in the ministry, you've got to be there. And it is a 24-7 type of thing. I do not like phone calls after 11 o'clock.

Not that you shouldn't do it if you need it, but what I say when I don't like them, it's never good, that's what I'm saying. It's just never good. We had a member die last week done in Indianapolis, Mr. Stegall, and it was about 10-30, I think, when the phone rang. And we were just going to bed and the phone rang. And it never rings at that hour for anything good. I thought, uh-oh, I knew he'd been sick. And when I heard his daughter's voice, I knew what had happened. So that's, you know, that's the way it is. Number three, a good shepherd searches for those that wander off. He goes after them. Ezekiel 34? Well, here where the Gospel is, let's look at Luke 15.

Verse 4, parable of the lost sheep.

What man of you having a hundred sheep if he loses one of them does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? He asks to search for those that wander off. Make a phone call. Make a visit. How are you doing? Haven't seen you for a while. What's going on? The minister has to do that. A member has to also want to be found. Sometimes members don't want help. Keller talks even about some sheep that time and time again they wander off. They get brought back into the flock. But if they are of such temperament or personality that they continue to do it, eventually they have to deal with that sheep. They just have to let it go. Over the years I've learned that sometimes with people there's a time to approach and there's a time to let them learn their lesson. We all know where we are. Our phone numbers are published. We know where the church is. We're not very far away. We all know at times that certain individuals and there are certain situations where people have to make their decisions and get on with their life and if they have to learn certain lessons then they will be back. Sometimes people don't want to be contacted. Sometimes they will not return a phone call. And when you know that is the case then everybody knows what has to be done. But that doesn't mean that a good shepherd, good minister, is not ready, willing, and able at any time when a person is willing and wants to talk and find their way back. There's a way to be found. There's a way to find their way back. That has to be a mutual two-way street. A shepherd is going to provide good water and good feeding for people. In Psalm 23, verse 2, it says, "...it makes me to lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside the still waters." Remember in Ezekiel 34 where we read about in verse 18 of Ezekiel 34, they foul the water with the residue of their feet. Keller talks about in his book that sometimes sheep are not able to discern good water. Let me just read in page 56 of Keller's book here. He talks about sheep that will drink bad water over good water.

And he says, there's always a percentage of people who will refuse to allow God to lead them.

They insist on running their own lives and following the dictates of their own wills. They insist they can be masters of their own destiny, even if ultimately such destinies are destructive. They do not want to be directed by the Spirit of God. They don't want to be led by God. They want to walk in their own way, drink from any old source that they fancy might satisfy their whims. They remind me very much of a bunch of sheep I watched one day that were being led down to a magnificent mountain stream. The snow-fed waters were flowing pure and clear and crystal clear crystal clean between lovely banks of trees. But on the way, several stubborn ewes in their land stopped instead to drink from small dirty muddy pools beside the trail. The water was filthy and polluted, not only with a churned up mud from the passing sheep, but even with the manure and urine of previous flocks that had passed that way. Still, the stubborn sheep were quite sure it was the best drink obtainable. And he said the water was filthy and unfit, full of all kinds of pests. Sheep do that sometimes on their way to good water. They will choose the bad over the good. And that's what God is saying here in verse 18 of Ezekiel 34. Sometimes sheep choose the bad water, they'll fowl their own and drink from that. A diligent, wise sheep will be able to discern good water. I've said for many years, especially in the last 15 to 20, especially in the last 15 years with the disruptions in the church, there's all kinds of drinking pools out there, sources of drinking and feeding for God's people. The internet is full of all different kinds of ideas.

We've had so many different groups split and splinter off from the church over the years, and for any type of idea, temperament, or personality that you might find among the people of God. And you and I can find any and all types of information that we would want in terms of doctrine, teaching, practice, and information. What we choose to drink is up to us. It's a free country, there's freedom of speech, and there's freedom of information. But a wise sheep, a wise member, is able to discern good water. We all should be able to.

That's a subject all to itself. But a shepherd is going to do his part as well to provide good water. But members have to be able to discern what is good and what is bad, and don't drink from the good from the bad when there's plenty of the good available.

Isaiah chapter 40 in verse 11 is the last point that we will bring regarding the way a shepherd will work with his people. He's going to treat them with tenderness. Isaiah chapter 40 in verse 11. This image here in verse 11 is a very beautiful one to help us understand how a shepherd treats his people tenderly. Isaiah 40 in verse 11, it says, he will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those who are with young and take care of his people. It's a beautiful image which matches the image that we started with in Luke 2 in verse 8 of shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night.

That's the image that we need to keep in mind. That's the type of shepherds that we, the people of God, always need. And both shepherd and sheep working together to create an environment of peace and tranquility, a haven of safety and peace within the church. Let's strive for that. Let's learn the lesson of Psalm 23 and certainly let's learn the lesson of Ezekiel 34 as sheep and as shepherds in our service to the chief shepherd.