The Astonishing Goodness of the Good Shepherd

Text: John 10:11-16

1. (Vs. 14) He knows His sheep.
• Verse 3 He calls the sheep by name.
• “All of us/each of us” principle. He leads the whole flock but knows each by name.
• He knows each of His sheep in every way. “Familiar with all my ways” Psalm 139:3
• Rev. 2:17 The white stone with a new name on it that only you and the Lord will know.

2. (Vs. 3) He leads His sheep
• He is the first to arrive wherever we’re going moment by moment and day by day. So, we are never in it alone.
• Where is he leading us? (Vs. 9) He nurtures us in a rich pasture.
• Pasture is a place of abundant feeding and rest. But pasture is not always placid.
• How did Jesus lead His disciples. He led them into the unexpected, the unpredictable, the uncontrollable and the unimaginable. So they would learn that security and supply is in the Shepherd, not in the pen.
• We don’t have to create life “outside the box,” all we need to do is live it. Circumstances will take us outside of the box as we live our daily lives.
• The Shepherd is leading us not to a place per se, but to a spiritual condition of rest, by faith in the Shepherd.
• Pasture is found in our faith in the Shepherd. That is the “Abundant Life” in all its richness.

3. (Vs. 4) He lets the sheep hear His voice
• He tunes His sheep to His frequency. He reveals Himself to us so we can hear His voice wherever we are.
• Isaiah 50:4 “He wakens my ear to listen as a disciple.”

4. (Vs. 11) He protects the sheep with His life.
• The ultimate good of the good shepherd is He laid down his life for the sheep. That made everything we have in Him possible.

5. (Vs. 28) He gives us eternal life.
• I give them eternal life.
• Eternal life is knowing Him.
• And they will never perish.
o The relationship we have built with the Lord will accompany us, without a break, through death and into eternity. Eternity is now and forever!
• From the View from My Place “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Not only is God’s goodness awaiting us in the future, but it is also on display in our life now.
• Experiencing the good comes from seeing the good.
• Seeing the good comes from giving thanks in everything.
• It comes from faith in the goodness of the good Shepherd.
• The Astonishing Goodness of the Good Shepherd is ours to experience every day.