SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/26/2016 9:36 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to John 10:1-10
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 10:1-10
Message of the verses: “1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other
way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd
of the sheep. 3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all
his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his
voice. 5 “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him,
because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure of speech
Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which
He had been saying to them. 7 So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly,
I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 “All who came before Me are thieves
and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 “I am the door; if anyone
enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have
life, and have it abundantly.”
I have to
say that after I listened to two sermons on these verses, especially the last
on that there is a lot packed into these ten verses, and it is much deeper than
one realizes as they just read through them.
In the last sermon that I listened to yesterday morning MacArthur spoke
of a book that he was just finishing on the Parables of Jesus, and so I couldn’t
help myself as I had to order it this morning.
He talks about how deep the parables actually are, yet how simply how
Jesus taught with these stories. Now
saying this there is actually no parables in the gospel of John but in the KJV
we do see the word parable is used in verse six “This parable spake Jesus unto
them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.” We will get into that a bit later so we
understand why this is not a parable.
We have to
understand that these verses we are looking at continue right after verse 41 of
chapter nine, as Jesus is talking to the same crowd. The formerly blind beggar is there along with
the disciples, and the Pharisees, and probably a number of people just
listening to Jesus as we see later on in chapter ten. I have to say that I believe the reason that
this chapter begins here is because Jesus is talking about sheep, and in verse
22 the scene changes to a different time period, but the subject of sheep is
still in play. It has been a fairly long
time ago when I read a book by a man that I don’t remember his name, but he
knew a lot about sheep. The book was
called “A Shepherd’s Look at the 23rd Psalm,” and in that book you
learn a lot about sheep and you learn that sheep and people have a lot in
common. You also learn, as we will here
that God is our Shepherd as seen in 23:1 where we read “The Lord is my
Shepherd.” We will also learn that not
only is God the true Shepherd, but that there are many false shepherds in the
world today trying to lead people, but they will only lead them astray.
The man’s
name who wrote the Shepherd book is W. Phillip Keller. I had to look it up so I would not keep
thinking about it. He is a wonderful
author, as his books are easy to read and very meaningful.
John
MacArthur writes that Jesus has many names in the Word of God, “But perhaps His
most endearing and intimate title is that of Shepherd. Centuries before the Messiah came, the Old
Testament had predicted that He would shepherd His people.” Now I want to conclude this first edition of
our introduction to these verses by quoting from a passage in the book of
Ezekiel which speaks of the coming Messiah as a Shepherd, but also speak of the
false shepherds in the nation of Israel. I have three Spiritual Diaries dated
04/07/2015, 04/08/2015, and 04/09/2015 that talk about Ezekiel chapter 34, this
entire chapter is about shepherds. I
want to quote 34:23 here and if you want to look up those SD’s they are on the
blog. “Then I will set over them one
shepherd, My servant David [a reference to the Messiah, David’s descendant],
and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd” We can
also look at verse 24 “"And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant
David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.” Let us also look at Micah 5:4 “And He will
arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the
name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be
great To the ends of the earth.” Zechariah predicts the death of the Messiah
and writes the following in 13:7 “"Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate," Declares the LORD of hosts.
"Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My
hand against the little ones.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: 1 « A Psalm of David. » The LORD is
my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He
leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths
of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your
staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness
and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in
the house of the LORD forever.”
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Remember that the Lord is my
Shepherd, who died for me.
Memory verses for today:
(Romans 6:4-5) “4. Therefore we
have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in
newness of life. 5. For if we have
become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be
in the likeness of His resurrection;”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Touch Him” (John 20:17).
Today’s Bible question:
“Who said, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’”
Answer in our next SD.
7/26/2016 10:32 AM
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