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Collierville First Baptist Church
Untitled - July 20, 2026
00:00:00 Speaker: Today as a prelude to observe the Lord's Supper, I want to share with you a brief message entitled The Good Shepherd. Near the end of his ministry, Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. I tell you, it really created a a reaction. The religious folks, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes were incensed that Jesus had the audacity to give sight to a blind man on the Sabbath day. And yet there were others, many others, who saw this miracle, and they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus leveraged that opportunity to teach the gathered people, number one, who he was and number two, what he had come to accomplish. The the Bible refers to Jesus by many names in Hebrews four fourteen. He's called the great High priest. In Colossians one eighteen, he's referred to as the head of the church. In John six sixty nine, he's called the Holy One of God. In Isaiah seven fourteen, he's referred to as Emmanuel. In first Timothy six fifteen, he's called the King of kings and the Lord of lords. In John one twenty nine, he's referred to as the Lamb of God. In John six thirty five he's referred to as the Bread of Life. In John eight twelve, he's called the light of the world. And in John four twenty five and twenty six, he's called the Messiah. I want you to hear the words of Jesus here in John chapter ten, verses eleven to sixteen. Jesus said, I am the good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. In verse fourteen, he said, I am the good shepherd, and I know my own and my own know me, even as the father knows me, and I know the father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason, the father loves me because I lay down my life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from my father. Of all the names given to the Lord, the one that seems to strike a chord in the heart of so many people is the one that we read about in this text today, the good Shepherd. How can we read this in John chapter ten, The Good Shepherd, and not think back to Psalm twenty three when David wrote, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil. My. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I want you to see here in the text I just read to you, that the incarnate Son of God said five different times in these few verses. I lay down my life. I lay five times in a few verses, he says. I lay down my life. Now I want you to understand. Jesus came to this world to love people, to save people, and to unify all believers with supernatural unity. When Jesus said, I lay down my life, he was referring to his own voluntary, sacrificial death on the cross. Pay close attention to the fact that when something is repeated in Scripture five times in a short span of verses, the Holy Spirit of God is really saying something very important to each and every one of us. If you jump ahead in the Gospel of John, in John chapter nineteen, verse thirty, the Bible says, therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, he's on the cross. He said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. You see those three words? It is finished. It literally means paid in full. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus paid for our sins as only Jesus could pay for them. Jesus assumed your guilt and paid the penalty for your sins by sacrificing himself. And he did it because he loves you, and he wants you to live in unity with other believers. Don't miss this now Jesus said that he had the authority to lay down his life, and he has the authority to take up his life. You say, well, what does that mean? Pastor? Let me tell you this. The Romans could not kill Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders could not kill Jesus. Jesus, in his own authority and power, laid down his life so that you and I could be saved. Now, he also said that he had the authority to take it up again. That speaks of his resurrection. So we've got the death of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection of Christ here, which constitutes what the New Testament calls the gospel, the good news. Now, here's a truth I want you to latch on to today. Jesus wants to be your good shepherd. He wants to be your good shepherd. For some of you here today, like Sharon. I think Sharon said that she received Christ thirty three years ago. For thirty three years he's been her good shepherd. And for some of you, he's been your shepherd for many years. For some of you, a few years. But he's your good shepherd. And I praise God that you came to the place in your life when you repented of your sin and you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he became your good Shepherd. But there are others here today, both watching live stream and those in attendance here today. And you cannot honestly say that Jesus is your good Shepherd because you've never come to grips with your own sin problem. You've never repented of sin and receive Jesus by faith as your Savior and your Lord. I'm praying that that'll change this morning. I'm praying that in a few minutes, you'll come to one of our staff members and you'll say, I want to be saved today. I want to put my faith in Jesus today as the good Shepherd. I want you to notice three things that Jesus can do in your life. And only Jesus can do this. Nobody else can do this for you. Only Jesus. Jesus, number one can forgive your sins. He can forgive your sins. Every single person within the sound of my voice has sinned against a holy Creator God, and guilt stalks us like a ravenous wolf. What can we do? Well, I'll tell you. Jesus is a good shepherd and he loves you so much That he laid down his life for you on the cross. He assumed your guilt. And he died for you on the cross, offering his body and blood as a payment to. The Holy Creator God, for all you've ever done wrong. Listen. The Bible explains his sacrificial death in First Peter two twenty four, where the Bible says he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds you were healed. And in Romans chapter five, verse eight, the Bible says, But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The resurrection of Jesus proves that God the Father accepted the sacrifice of His Son as full and complete payment for your sins. What a wonderful truth that is. Jesus wants to be your good shepherd, and if he's your good shepherd, he can forgive your sins. Number two, he can change your life. He can change your life. Do you feel as if your life is out of control? Your relationship with your spouse is fading fast. Your child is living in rebellion. You have an addiction that has enslaved you. Anger boils within you and threatens to explode at the slightest provocation. Now, as I want to tell you, friend, Jesus can change you from the inside out, not from the outside in, but from the inside out. Now, deep in your heart, you know that you don't have what it takes to change. You cannot whip that addiction. You cannot save your fading marriage. But I tell you, on the authority of the inherent, inspired, infallible word of the living God, Jesus can. He can. Nothing is impossible with him. John Stott said this. I'm afraid we're always in danger of minimizing what God, by his resurrection power, is able to do in ordinary human beings like you and me. Becoming a Christian is nothing less than a resurrection from spiritual death. In the beginning of an entirely new life, in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Positive thinking won't cut it. Turning over a new leaf won't cut it. Turn to the good Shepherd. and trust him to do what only he can do. And I'll tell you, he will do it. He will change your life. He will forgive your sins. And number three, Jesus can give you hope. I tell you, there's a lot of stuff going on in the world today, a lot of stuff that gives us pause, a lot of stuff that causes us to worry and to wonder what's out there in the future. Well, I tell you, this amazing good shepherd promised that he would come back to this broken, sin sick world in person, in power, and in magnificent glory. He will create new heavens and a new earth, and he will rule and reign over this perfect new world. Those who have believed in him and trusted Him as Savior and Lord will become a part of his eternal kingdom. And those who have refused to repent and believe in him will be secluded in a horrible place called hell for all of eternity. If you believe in him, you will live with Jesus forever, and you will experience a fullness of joy and endless pleasure and a wonderful inheritance that he has set aside for you. In first Peter one, verses three to five, the Bible said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Can I tell you this? You don't have to worry about the future. Jesus has a future. Jesus will keep his word. You can count on it. Remember, he's the good Shepherd. He will never, ever lead his sheep astray. So Jesus wants to be your good shepherd. Listen, the fact that Jesus chose to lay down his life for you and take it up again has amazing relevance for your life. We've seen that he can forgive your sins. He can change your life. He can give you hope. There is a condition, however, and the condition is a very simple condition. You must be willing to repent of your sin and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord by faith. I want to invite you to do that this morning. If you've never received Christ as Savior and Lord, I'm going to ask you to come to one of our staff. I'm going to ask the staff members to come right now, our worship team, to come, and I'm going to invite you to come to one of our staff members. You don't have to have some kind of prepared speech ready. All you got to do is say to them, I want to be saved. I want to be saved. That's five words. Five words that can change your life, that can result in forgiveness of sin, that could generate real, genuine, authentic hope in your heart and life. come to Christ today. Now, some of you are already can say with with clarity, Jesus is my good Shepherd. You're saved. And since he laid down his life for you, can't you live for him? Think about it. Can't you live for him today, tomorrow, this week, the next week, the next month, the next year. The rest of your life. I'm going to invite you in preparation for the Lord's Supper. If you're a born again believer to come to the altar or right there at your seat, but you ask Jesus, through the Holy Spirit's ministry to show you any sin that you have in your life, anything that's clogging up your spiritual arteries and veins. And you come to this altar right there at your seat, and you confess it to him and ask him to forgive you and cleanse you of all sin. The Bible says, when we take the Lord's Supper as believers, we should be clean. We should be confessed up. And I hope and pray you'll do that today. If you want to become a part of our church, join the church. You come to one of our staff members. We'll help you with that. Let me pray. And we're going to sing and you come. Heavenly father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you so much that we can call Jesus the good Shepherd. Lord, I thank you that you're good. You're good all the time. And you've done some amazing things to enable us to experience forgiveness of sin, a change of life, and a hope and a future. Oh Lord, move with power in our hearts today. In Jesus name, Amen. You come as God leads you.