Psalm 23; Luke 15: 1 – 7; John 10: 11 – 18 & 27 – 30

Last week after I sat in the dentist’s office for two hours waiting to be seen I became bored to death. I had finished the rest of the newspaper so I read a few of the personal classified advertisements. You know the "looking for companionship" advertisements in the newspaper.

For example one I read went like this: "25 year old wealthy single white male who enjoys dancing, walking on the beach, and traveling is seeking a long-term relationship with a young, loving, kind-hearted, single, white female with similar interests." My first thought was, "Why would a guy like this have to place an ad in the newspaper?"

My next thought was, "What would our three scripture lessons for today sound like if I boiled them down to in a personal classified ad?" Here is what I came up with.

Again, you have to wonder why everyone everywhere isn’t already a part of this Good Shepherd’s flock. After all, the Good Shepherd wants a personal loving relationship with his sheep. The Good Shepherd agrees to comfort, provide for, protect, and even give his life for his sheep. You have got to wonder why everybody would not want to be a part of the Good Shepherd’s flock.

Maybe it’s because we don’t like the idea of being referred to as sheep. After all, sheep follow and most of us like to lead. Sheep cannot survive without a shepherd and most of us take pride in our ability to take care of ourselves, and we want to be in charge of ourselves..

In verse 11 of our lesson from John, Jesus clearly identifies himself as the Good Shepherd. And I think the analogy of the personal "looking for love" classified ad is very appropriate because Jesus really does love us and Jesus really does want to have a long-term personal relationship with us. Jesus wants to comfort us, Jesus wants to provide for us, and Jesus wants to protect us.

The imagery of The Good Shepherd and sheep is used throughout the Bible. In Jesus ministry He referred to the "True Israel" as "my flock". This true Israel is the sheep who recognize Jesus as their Shepherd; they know His voice and they follow Him. You see the Jews heard Jesus’ words but they did not know nor did they listen to His voice!

Any shepherd that is any good knows his sheep; even if that shepherd has several hundred sheep. Each sheep is named, loved, and special. Jesus The Good Shepherd knows us by name and we are special because He created us. The Bible tells us Jesus knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:29-30). Jesus loves each one of us as if we are the only one in His flock.

You and I may be just a number in the governments’ or the state’s computer, but the Good Shepherd always knows us by name. The Good Shepherd loves us even in our weakness and despite of our foolish choices.

When Lady and I lived in Northwest Colorado we were in the middle of sheep country. We learned from the sheep owners that sheep are not just a fluffy cute animal. Sheep are difficult to raise. They are creatures of habit and they are easily spooked. Sheep can not be pushed into doing anything. Most of a sheep’s decisions are driven by their appetite and sheep get into head butting contest for no reason at all. Often sheep get their wool tangled in briars or in the sagebrush and can not free themselves. Sheep will bite, kick, and they are very greedy. However, sheep cannot survive without a shepherd. A sheep will keep its head down while grazing and move away from the safety of the flock. If left alone, sheep will get lost or follow a line of grass right over the edge of a cliff.

Sheep are not easy and neither are people. I think that is why Jesus referred to people as sheep. If we are honest with ourselves, we all can be cruel, greedy, selfish, easily frightened, wander away, and we get ourselves into dangerous situations. We can get so wrapped up in ourselves and our concerns that we lose sight of where we are going and figuratively we fall over a cliff. Yet Jesus, our Good Shepherd still loves us. Jesus our Good Shepherd still seeks us out. Jesus our Good Shepherd still calls us. Jesus our Good Shepherd voluntarily laid down His life for us.

All three of our scriptures for today, the 23^rd Psalm, Luke 15, and John 10 are all invitations for a loving long-term relationship with Almighty God. God says, "If you will accept Jesus, my gift to you, I will love you, provide for you, comfort you, and protect you throughout eternity. But you have to respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him.

The Bible clearly presents two doctrinal themes: Divine Sovereignty and Human Choice / Human Responsibility. Their relationship has been and will be debated for years. The problem comes when we try to pick one OR the other. But let me suggest that Divine Sovereignty AND Human Choice are not mutually exclusive. I challenge you to go home and read Ephesians 1:3 -14 and see how many times the phrase, "in Christ", "in Him", "through Jesus Christ" appears. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ have always been the centerpiece of God’s eternal plan for the salvation of all mankind! Then read John 3:16 and Romans 10:9 -10. These verses make it our responsibility to accept God’s plan for saving us crystal clear.

In the last part of our lesson, we read, "My sheep listed to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my hand. I and the Father are one."

Jesus promises eternal life to all who believe and Jesus promises that they will never perish. Jesus is no ordinary shepherd. So …. who keeps someone out of Christ’s flock? It is not the shepherd keeping us out with His shepherds’ crook. People keep themselves out of Jesus’ flock by not believing in Him. Jesus never said that we are in the flock or we are out of the flock depending upon our ability to believe. We have all been given the ability and we have all the knowledge we need. We just have to act on it!

We also need to understand that eternal life is as much about quanity as it is about quality. All people were created in God’s image and everybody’s soul will live for eternity. Eternity is a long, long time. That is quantity.

The only question is the quality one - Where we will spend eternity? There are only two options: Heaven or Hell. The Bible is clear. Hell is a literal place of eternal torture, pain, suffering, and punishment and is a result of a person NOT accepting God’s plan of salvation. Remember God does not send anybody to Hell. People choose to go to Hell because they neglect to accept or they refuse to accept God’s free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.

The question for all people throughout all ages is where we chosen to spend eternity.

The main point in verses 28-29 is to assure all of those who believe in Jesus Christ that they are in no danger of losing their salvation! That is tremendous!

Jesus promised eternal protection to His sheep. Thieves and wolves can threaten a flock of sheep but no one can take the sheep away from The Father. That takes super power and protection!

The only way that Jesus could make such a promise is explained in verses 29 & 30. "My Father who has given them to me is greater than all." and "Jesus and the Father are one". God is all-powerful.

You see, our salvation does not depend upon what we have done, OR will do OR fail to do, but our salvation depends upon what Jesus Christ did for us. Our part is to accept what Jesus did for us!!

Once we publicly profess our faith in Jesus as our Lord, we are given and guaranteed eternal life. "No one can snatch them out of my hand." This verse is one of the many that were given by Jesus to encourage us and to assure all people who truly believe in Him that we are safe and secure throughout eternity!!

You see it is not because of our feeble hand holding on to His hand but rather on Jesus’ firm grip on us. This doesn’t mean that life won’t be difficult OR frightening, but the Good News is that we are never out of Jesus’ hands.

There is a song on the radio these days that says this so beautifully. "Not because of who I am, but because of what you’ve done. Not because of what I’ve done, but because of who you are…. I am yours Lord Jesus"

Jesus said, "My sheep know my voice and they follow me." The question for us this morning is do we know Jesus’ voice and are we following Him?

It is a wonderful and comforting feeling to know that we belong to Jesus’ flock especially when it is time for us to leave this pasture and to go home. If we know the Good Shepherd’s voice, He will lead us safely home.

Today will you spend time getting to know The Good Shepherd better? Will you choose to listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice and will you chose to follow Jesus? AMEN