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The Maturing Christian's Blessed Assurance Series
Contributed by Jimmy Davis on Sep 19, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: Picture # 11 in series: The 14 Candid Snapshots of the Maturing Christian as found in the Gospel of John. The maturing Christian’s blessed assurance of salvation is seen in the picture of the Parable of the Good Shepherd.
Picture # 11 The Maturing Christian’s Blessed Assurance of Salvation as seen in the Parable of the Good Shepherd.
The God-Man who enters by the gate is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
We usually think of the shepherd in terms of tender care, but in biblical times, the shepherd was the sovereign ruler over his flock.
Jesus is the true Ruler over His people.
The sheep will listen and know the Good Shepherd’s voice (Christ’s voice).
The sheep will not follow a stranger’s voice (Satan’s voice).
Being the Good shepherd, Jesus knows His sheep and His sheep know Him.
Judas wasn’t saved and then lost, Judas was never saved to begin with.
Judas never truly knew the Good Shepherd!
Jesus is also the Gate for the sheep.
He is the door! He is the Way!
Believers are the sheep.
Thieves and robbers are symbolic of Satan.
If a man does not enter by the way of the door or the gate in the normal way, but climbs over the fence or the wall, then it’s clear that he is there for no good purpose.
The one who enters by the door or the gate has the right to enter.
The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep (Calvary’s cross).
Jesus is not clasifying Himself as one among many shepherds, but He is the One Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.
John 10:16 address those people who lived and will live in a time period other than the actual time period of Christ.
Verse 16 could also mean those who are not within Judaism, but are of the Gentile world.
It could also mean those of the faith who died before the resurrection of Christ, who did not have the opportunity to know the risen Christ.
The Good Shepherd has all power (John 10:18).
The Jews were divided amid conflict (John 10:19), and in verses 22-42 we find the Jew’s final rejection of Jesus.
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”
When God wants to reveal to us a secret thing, He uses beautiful illustrations like the illustration of the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep.
God is the Shepherd of His sheep.
The sheep are in the fold, and the shepherd sleeps near the gate, to keep the sheep in the fold behind the gate, and the thieves and robbers out.
When the morning comes, the shepherd walks toward the lush green pastures and the sheep always follow.
Then, in the afternoon, the shepherd leads the sheep to a shady area with green grass and fresh water, so the sheep can rest.
At evening, the shepherd leads the sheep home.
The only thing that stands between the sheep and the blood thirsty wolves, the thieves and the robbers, is the shepherd.
First Peter 1:5 says we are “kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Our salvation is not secure if our salvation depends upon humanity to keep it secure.
Our salvation is secure because we are “kept by the power of God.”
My father-in-law has about 10 cows in his pasture.
Occasionally his cows get out of the fence.
They push up the fence and walk through it because the fence is not very secure.
My father-in-law’s fence is more like a suggested boundary line than a secure fence.
Jesus’ fence around our lives is safe and secure, and He has the power to keep His fence secure.
Satan cannot steal, kill or destroy us because of this fence.
May God richly bless you as you continue reading this Bible series.
Rev. Jimmy Davis
Bayview Baptist Church
5300 Two Notch Road
Columbia, SC 29204
Telephone: 803-754-8690
Email: BayviewBaptist@aol.com
