This morning, we’re going to learn what is on the Father’s heart for His people. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; unchanging! His love is not only unconditional and inescapable, He is love! He created us in His image and has a perfect plan for us.
In His boundless wisdom, He chose to give us something that love requires; free will. He created us with the ability to choose. Will we choose to selflessly reciprocate God’s great love back to Him and to others? Or, will we choose to selfishly reject His love and serve our own selves?
Jesus said:
Matthew 25:31-46
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Jesus teaches us that there are two categories of people; sheep and goats. All of us are one or the other.
Physically, the two animals are very similar. There are a few distinctions. Sheep typically position their tails down while goats are up in the air. Sheep have a groove in their upper lip that goats do not have. Sheep typically do not have beards, but goats do.
In the same way, you can’t really tell whether someone is a Christian or not by looking at them. Some of the most on-fire sheep whose hearts are fully committed to following Christ are tattooed, pierced, rough looking people.
Some of the most rebellious, cold hearted, wicked, goats of people are khakis and polo wearing, clean-cut, smiling, family people.
The biggest difference between a sheep and a goat is not their physical looks, but in their behavior and attitudes.
Generally speaking, sheep are very gentle and docile. They flock closely together with other sheep and are quick to follow the lead of a shepherd.
Generally speaking, goats are very sneaky and rebellious. They are very intelligent and independent and difficult to contain. They are known as escape artists and will put to the test any fencing that they are placed within and will not follow the lead of any person.
This is why Jesus uses this analogy when categorizing those who are His sheep who follow Him into eternal glory and those who are goats following their own rebellious path into eternal torment.
We cannot judge by mere appearances, but we can judge by the fruit of people’s lifestyles. Are they sheep, goats, or even perhaps a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Most of us are familiar with the account when the prophet Samuel chose David as king. In the middle of Samuel’s mourning of God rejecting king Saul, the Lord sent him to Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons to be the next king.
1 Samuel 16:6-13
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”
13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.
Where was David spending his time?
That’s right, out with the sheep.
David was a shepherd.
And most of us are familiar with the account when David and Goliath. David left the sheep with another shepherd as his father sent him to visit his brothers on the battle line with some bread and cheese. When David saw what was happening and heard the threats of Goliath, he went straight to the king and said:
1 Samuel 17:34-37
34 “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”
We all know how this ended; in David’s defeat of Goliath.
God chose a shepherd who courageously and faithfully shepherded his family’s sheep to shepherd the nation of God’s people.
After nearly 20 years of opposition and growth and maturity, after nearly 20 years of serving the very man in the position that he was called into, after nearly 20 years of that man being tormented by an evil spirit and trying to murder David, after nearly 20 years from the time that Samuel anointed David as king, it came time for him to step into the position that he was called to.
At that time:
2 Samuel 5:1-5 (1 Chronicles 11:1-3)
1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”
3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
The Lord was looking for a person to shepherd His people. He chose a person with the heart of a good shepherd.
This was clearly revealed and acknowledged after David sinned by taking a census and enrolling all able-bodied men into his army to fight. David had to choose between three consequences and while God was in the middle of carrying out the punishment for his sin, David cried out to the Lord saying:
2 Samuel 24:17
“I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.”
We, God’s people are His sheep and His sheep need a shepherd.
Psalm 78:70-72
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;
71 from tending the sheep he brought him
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.
God sent the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel imploring them to return to Him and to simply acknowledge their sin and rebellion. They were acting like goats when they were called to be sheep. God said:
Jeremiah 3:14-17
14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you – one from a town and two from a clan – and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
We are living in those days! Who needs the ark of the covenant? We can enter into the true throne room and not the copied, shadow of it. We don’t enter into a tracing of Heaven, we are citizens of it! We don’t enter into a man-built temple to get near God’s Presence, we are the temple and God’s very Presence dwells within us!
Even under the new covenant, it was still God’s heart to care for and to lead His people with shepherds who have His heart toward them.
Sure, there are shepherds who do not possess God’s heart for His people. Ones who destroy and scatter more than tend and care. This is nothing new. In fact, later through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord said:
Jeremiah 23:1-4
1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.
And again through the prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 34:1-24
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
17 “‘As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.
23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
Who was it that first heard about the coming of this One Shepherd in the lineage of David in the town of David that night when Jesus was born (Luke 2)?
That’s right; shepherds!
Who were the first ones sent to visit Immanuel, God in the flesh, God with us?
That’s right; shepherds!
Who were the first ones to evangelize and share the good news about Jesus and His salvation?
That’s right; shepherds!
What did Jesus say about His people as He was ministering?
Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
What did He say to them?
John 10:11-16
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
One flock and One Shepherd. The church and Jesus!
There is one Good Shepherd that we follow; Jesus.
There is one flock of sheep who follow Shepherd Jesus; the church.
However, those sheep gather together in smaller groups called the church.
Those sheep follow one of the many shepherds that the Lord promised to send to care for them; pastors and elders.
That’s right, the Greek word for the New Testament word pastor and elder is the same Greek word for literal shepherds who tend and care for flocks of sheep.
Though they are not Jesus, they are responsible for tending the flock entrusted under their care as Jesus would. They are responsible for leading His people as they follow His lead.
Paul said to the church in Ephesus:
Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
And in his letter to his fellow Hebrews:
Hebrews 13:17
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.
And in the closing of this same letter:
Hebrews 13:20-21
20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Peter wrote:
1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 5:1-4
1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it 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 will never fade away.
In the end, after Jesus has separated the sheep from the goats at the great judgment, the sheep will finally be physically brought together to the One Shepherd:
Revelation 7:17
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
You all have chosen to follow Jesus.
You have chosen His salvation and to be transformed from a goat to a sheep.
God has chosen me and the current elders in this season to be the shepherds over this flock.
Our role is to first and foremost have hearts after Jesus’ own.
Our role is to express Jesus’ heart toward you all.
Our role is to care for you spiritually.
Our role is to set an example to follow.
We are responsible for feeding you the bread of God; His very word.
We are responsible for praying and interceding for you.
We are responsible for providing springs of living water to drink from; God’s very Presence through the Holy Spirit in worship.
We are responsible for discipling and correcting and rebuking as all of us are learning to let go of our goatish, stubborn rebellion and to be transformed by the Spirit into the sheep we are called to be.
We do this not out of selfish ambition, not for vanity, not to get rich (Lord knows that won’t happen here), but out of a willing obedience to submit to Shepherd Jesus’ lead over us.
We acknowledge and accept that we will receive a harsher judgment on the day that we meet Jesus face-to-face as a result of this weighty responsibility, but count it worth it.
Please, come together in Jesus’ name.
Make this task a joy and not a burden.
Flock together as docile sheep.
Not rebelling and biting one another and bucking everyone like goats, but loving and supporting and serving one another as sheep.
Treat one another as Jesus treats us.
We all have strengths and weaknesses; that’s why we need each other.
Not to be one another’s judges in our weaknesses, but to be one another’s support.
Your strength compliments my weakness and vice-versa.
We need each other!