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The Second Sunday After Easter
The Authority of the ONE Church
April 6, 2008

NKJ John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 "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. 13 "The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 "And other 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.
 
Jesus is the Good Shepherd—who lay down His life for the sheep—and the first thing we should notice in these verses of our lesson—is that Jesus says He is THE Good Shepherd—there is only one Good Shepherd—and one flock—anyone who teaches otherwise is a liar and a thief—a thief because he is trying to steel the sheep from the hands of the Good Shepherd
 
On that first Easter Sunday—our Lord established the one church on earth when He breathed the Holy Spirit into His disciples
 
NKJ John 20:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
 
There is still ONE CHURCH on this earth—and that is the Christian church of believers
 
NKJ Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
 
Last week we spoke of the institution of the office of the Apostles—and the successors of the apostles—these would also be called shepherds—and they would speak the message of Christ—just as He taught us—today there are many pastors, or shepherds leading parts of the flock—but there is only One Good Shepherd—and there is only one flock—as we have seen in Ephesians above—and as Paul also taught us in his letter to the Corinthians
 
NKJ 1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free -- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
 
Beginning with Peter—and the apostles—Jesus established shepherds amongst the flock—and Peter instructs the shepherds in his letter to the church—Peter gives instructions on how these shepherds should conduct their business—how they should take care of the sheep in the flock
 
NKJ 1 Peter 5:1 The elders who are among you I exhort, 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: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
 
Jesus teaches us in our text that there are 3 kinds of shepherds—good shepherds—hirelings—and wolves
 
The Good Shepherd
The good shepherd goes before the sheep—tends to the needs of the flock—the good shepherd does not flee when the flock is attacked or threatened—he is willing to give up his life for the sheep—the good shepherd also feeds the flock with the Word of God
 
The Hireling
The hireling can also preach the Word—the difference is in the loving and caring for the sheep—the hireling does not sincerely care for the sheep—to him they are just a job
 
When Paul wrote his letter to the congregation of Philippi—he was concerned that there was not a good shepherd there—and he told the congregation that he would send Timothy to care for them
 
NKJ Philippians 2:19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.
 
Paul was speaking of a hireling—one who cared for the sheep until trouble came—the hireling accepted the position of tending the flock for worldly gain and perhaps power or glory for himself
 
The Wolves
And now for the wolves—some are outright workers of the devil—looking to steal souls from the hand of God—some are more cunning than others—preaching some of God’s Word—mixed with the poison of their lies—some slowly remove God’s message and replace it with the doctrines of men—focusing on a “social gospel” of sorts—hear these words of Jesus
 
NKJ Matthew 7:15 " Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
 
And Paul warned his churches of the coming of the wolves—listen to his warning to the ones entrusted with the care of the congregations
 
NKJ Acts 20:28 "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. 29 "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 "Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
 
This was nothing new—we can see the same warning in the Old Testament—a warning against the ones charged with tending God’s sheep
 
NKJ Jeremiah 23:1 "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the LORD. 3 "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 "I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD.
 
Paul was a Pharisee—a master of the Old Testament—and he knew that we all had to be vigilant to keep us from being fooled—he knew men not motivated by the Holy Spirit—not caring about nurturing and feeding God’s people—would come and try to steal the sheep—for worldly gain—and for power and glory to themselves
 
The Scriptures are clear as to how we Christians must yield to the authority of men—there are two lines of authority provided in God’s Word—civil authority—and spiritual authority
 
Since the majority of this world does not submit themselves to the truth of God’s Word—God has provided civil authority to provide order for the world
 
NKJ Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves....6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.
 
Amongst us Christians there is also another form of authority we must submit ourselves to—the authority of the Church
 
NKJ Matthew 18:15 " Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' 17 "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
 
As for sounding out doctrine—to determine whether it is false—we go to our Bibles—and if in doubt—obey God’s Word
 
NKJ Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
 
NKJ Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.
 
A great example of an apostle’s response to the false teachers of their day—is Paul’s response to the high priest Ananias—Ananias was ordering Paul to be punched because he would not submit to Ananias’ authority
 
NKJ Acts 23:3 Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?"
 
Paul calls Ananias a whitewashed wall—because he was not following the Scriptures—therefore Ananias was speaking without the authority of what was in God’s Word—hence Ananias might as well stood before Paul as a whitewashed wall—when dealing with someone who does not have the Scriptures as a basis of truth—consider dealing with such men like talking to a wall
 
TEXT:  NKJ John 10:14 "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
 
Jesus knows our hearts—therefore He knows His sheep—we hear His voice—by hearing His Word—and therefore we know Him by His Word—Jesus knows us by the thoughts and intents of our hearts
 
NKJ Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
 
And we know Christ as the Good Shepherd—and can discern who are His preachers of His Word—we must be as Paul found the Bereans—this will identify the liars and false preachers
 
NKJ Acts 17:10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.
 
Being a Christian is not a spectator sport—we each have a responsibility to search the Scriptures for the truth—and separated ourselves from a false teacher—read God’s Word and hear the voice of the Good Shepherd
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!