John chapter 10, we'll read the whole chapter tonight. And the verse that I call your attention to this evening is verse 14, John 10, 14. Let's read the whole passage. This is the holy and inspired word of God. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, that he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come, that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is in hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, And they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. There was a division, therefore, among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, he hath a double and is mad. Why hear ye him? Others said, these are not the words of him that hath a double. Can a double open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem, the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him, Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father. For which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy. And because thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the world Word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken. Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemous, because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him. Therefore, they sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hand and went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized. And there he abode. And many resorted unto him and said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true. And many believed on him there." So far we read God's word. I call your attention, as I said before, we read the chapter to verse 14, where Jesus says these words to us this evening, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the sermon that I am going to preach to you this evening is the sermon that I preached this morning at Trinity. And I preached this sermon this morning in light of the beginning of another year of family visitation in our congregation. The purpose of the sermon, therefore, was not to set forth a theme text for the year of family visitation. And I understand that you as a congregation don't have a theme text. In fact, at Trinity, we're starting that for the first time this year, not to have a particular theme text for the entire congregation. And so the purpose of the sermon was not to set forth a particular text that would be read in all of the homes as I had done in the previous years regarding family visitation, but rather the purpose of the sermon was to set forth the purpose of family visitation. And to do that by drawing our attention to Jesus Christ as the good shepherd of the sheep. You'll notice obviously that John 10 verse 14 does not say anything about elders, nor the work that they in particular are called to do in family visitation. The text explicitly talks about Christ, his own words, in which he says to the church, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep. But this text stands in part as part of the biblical basis for the good reformed practice of family visitation. Christ knows the flock. He therefore cares for the flock. And Jesus Christ knows and cares for the flock in and through the special offices in the church, particularly the office as it relates to family visitation, of elders. And so in light of preaching that sermon this morning at Trinity, I decided to preach this sermon for you as a congregation tonight. But I say this in the introduction because it's that occasion that is the reason for some of the main application that I'm going to draw out of this particular text in the sermon this evening. So in light of that, let's consider John 10.14 using as our theme, Jesus, or rather the good shepherd who knows his sheep, the good shepherd who knows his sheep. And the two points of the sermon are the following, his knowledge of love and his all comprehensive care. the good shepherd who knows his sheep, his knowledge of love and his all comprehensive care. In John chapter 10, as we read it this evening, the Lord Jesus Christ sets forth a parable concerning sheep, a shepherd and robbers, thieves, hirelings, and flocks. I'm not going to delve into all of the details of the parable as such, only to say this main point at the beginning of the sermon. And that is that the primary idea of John chapter 10 is exactly the words of our particular text. What Jesus makes abundantly clear in John chapter 10 is that this is true. I, he says, on three different occasions in John chapter 10, am the good shepherd of the sheep." This is the image, beloved, that we have to have in our minds. This is the picture that God wants us to dwell upon in our minds. We have to see ourselves this evening as sheep, and we have to know and believe our Savior to be this good shepherd. The text that we look at highlights a couple of main truths. It is one of the few places in the chapter that identifies Jesus specifically as the good shepherd. What Jesus is doing here in John 10 is demonstrating that he is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament teaching concerning Jehovah as the shepherd. I'm not going to look at all of the references tonight. I only make a point of this in light of the songs that we've been singing, and we'll sing again at the end of our worship service. This theme of shepherd and sheep is from beginning to end in the Scriptures, and particularly the Psalms. And the greatest example of that is Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Jehovah is. Jesus is Jehovah salvation. So that all of that language in the Old Testament, Jehovah as the good shepherd of his sheep, Jesus comes in John 10 and makes clear, I, I am the one who is the good shepherd of the flock. He identifies himself in John 10 as the good shepherd. Such a simple description, isn't it? good shepherd, but beautiful description and profound description. The word good there refers to that which is excellent and beautiful. Jesus is the good shepherd of his sheep because he in himself is excellent and beautiful. Consider tonight, beloved, the shepherd. The shepherd is not a man. The shepherd is the only begotten Son of God. So, He is a man, but my point is He is God Himself. As the only begotten Son of God come into the flesh, the sinless Son of God, He is in Himself good, excellent, beautiful. But that's not the emphasis in John 10. The emphasis in John 10 is that he is the good shepherd, excellent and beautiful with respect to the work that he accomplishes, particularly for the flock. A good shepherd stands in contrast to a bad shepherd or an evil shepherd. And what is an evil shepherd? An evil shepherd is one who doesn't care for the flock. And there's examples of that in John 10. The robbers and the thieves and the hirelings. They're evil. Why are they evil? Because they care about themselves first. And they don't love and they don't care for the flock. Jesus is your good shepherd because Jesus cares for, loves, and does everything to preserve you as his flock. That's what makes the Lord Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd. Now in our text related to that idea of Jesus being the Good Shepherd is the fact that he knows his sheep. In fact, you can say when you look at just our text in light of the chapter that that's what makes him the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. And this is the demonstration that I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep. And beloved, just stop right there and see the definitive way in which Jesus says this to us tonight. that you and I have to believe and latch onto and cling to by faith. We don't sit here this evening thinking about our Lord in heaven. I wonder if He really knows me. I wonder if He really knows my needs. I wonder if He really can bring me through what I'm going through at this particular time. You see, when you think that way, you're thinking about yourself, and you're thinking about your circumstances, and you're thinking without keeping your eyes directly focused upon the Shepherd in heaven, and what we know about the Shepherd as it's found in the Scriptures. He says definitively to us tonight, I know My sheep. And as a congregation of believers, we have to in our hearts say, Amen. I believe that. Though I may not feel it always, though sometimes sinfully I may doubt it, the Word of God says it tonight. I know. I know my sheep, Jesus says. And that gets us into really the heart of the text and what we develop at more length here in this sermon. And that is the idea that Jesus does in fact know you as his sheep. That knowledge of which Jesus speaks in the text is, as I identify in the first point of the sermon, a deep, personal, intimate love for the flock. Whenever we come in the scriptures to the idea of knowing, knowing as it relates to the child of God's relationship to God or as it relates to believers relationship to each other. That knowing is always more than mere intellectual facts and information. The knowledge between God and his people and between believers in the church is a deep, intimate, personal love for one another. And the prime example of that, of course, is that of a husband and a wife. When the Scriptures talk about a husband and wife who know each other, that's not just the coming together sexually as husbands and wives are called to do. But it is rather that deep intimate oneness between a husband and a wife by which they truly in love dwell with one another. That's the idea of Jesus saying in the text, I know my sheep. I know them deeply. I know them personally. I know them intimately. First and foremost in love, And out of that love, I do everything for my flock. That's what we need to see in the first place tonight, relative to this idea of knowing. At its heart and center, when Jesus says, I know my sheep, he is saying, I love with a deep, personal, intimate love, my sheep. Jesus knows His flock on account of the eternal decree of election. Jesus knows His flock in this way because this flock and each member of the flock in particular have been given to the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity according to the decree of election. That's alluded to In this chapter when we read in verse 29 of John 10, My Father which gave them Me is greater than all. That giving of the flock to Christ is rooted in the eternal decree of election. In election God has the name. of every single one of the flock of God written in the book of life. And that book with each individual name is given to the Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, that's why it's absolutely sure. It's so important to emphasize election. Because it's election that is the unchangeable decree of God. It can be nothing but this. Exactly because in eternity God said, these are the sheep and I'm giving them to you. And then He takes that and accomplishes the will of God in time and history. And because it's grounded in the decree of election, we must never doubt the knowledge and the love that Jesus has for us as His flock. The knowledge and love that Jesus has for His sheep is exactly that which led the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross. In John chapter 10, what Jesus repeats on several occasions in the chapter is the greatest manifestation that one has for another in their love for someone else. He says repeatedly in John chapter 10, and I lay down my life for the sheep. See beloved this evening, the tremendous love of the shepherd for the flock. When Jesus says in John 10, I lay down my life for the sheep, what he's doing there is speaking exactly about the end of the path that he was walking on. He's saying in John 10, I'm going somewhere, and where I'm going has as its end the cross of Calvary. No man takes it from me, he says in John 10. No man against my will kills me. But instead, Jesus says clearly in the passage, I lay down my life. I willingly, I voluntarily, voluntarily give my life for the flock. Rooted in election, I know them individually and personally. And for each one in their place, I hang. on the cross of Calvary, enduring the wrath of God for their sin and their guilt. And it's that which stands at the basis of our even being in the flock of God. As I said earlier, we need to know ourselves tonight as sheep. And the first thing that we say with respect to that is, I don't belong in this flock. I have no right to be here in this flock of God. But I am, and we are. Because Christ, in His love for us, laid down His life. Satisfying the justice of God. So that His righteousness is our righteousness. And therefore we belong to the flock of God. Now what's striking in John chapter 10 is that Jesus says, I lay down my life. No man takes it. I have the power to lay it down. But then he says right after that in verse 18, I have the power to take it again. And there you see how the reality of the relationship between Jesus Christ and the flock is so much greater than the picture. The picture is beautiful. The picture is so helpful. We need that to understand the gospel. But the picture would fall apart at this point if Jesus didn't say what he did in that verse that I just read. Because you can have a flock and you can have a shepherd And that flock can be over here, and the shepherd can be right here, and he can see the enemies over there. And that shepherd may go out and defend against the enemies of the flock. And he may even lose his life in that particular instance to save the flock that he was defending. So that you could say he laid down his life for that flock. But in the end, That flock isn't much better off. In the immediate future, yes. Saved and protected. But as we all know, it's just a matter of time until another round of enemies come. And now they're defenseless. And they will be consumed. And that's why the reality is so much greater than the picture. And the reality is that He lays it down in His love for the flock. meriting thereby their salvation and right to be in the flock, but he himself takes it again so that the flock is never left without the shepherd. We as a flock have always had and will always have the good shepherd who knows the sheep. And that leads us back to this idea of knowing. Because part of the great work of Jesus as our shepherd is to care for us, preserve us, defend us, all of which will only take place if he truly knows us. Knows us rooted in love, manifested in all of that work, but yet in a very practical way, knows us. The imagery is so good on this point too. And John 10 alludes to this. You need to know the sheep. If I was a shepherd and I had a flock, but I don't know one thing about sheep, I could have all the love in the world for that flock, but it's not going to do any good. If I don't know that this is the type of grass that they really need if they're going to eat well and be healthy, or these are the types of areas that they will only lie down on to get their rest, or these are the enemies that in particular are going to attack the sheep. I may love the flock. I may have a tremendous concern about the flock, but if I don't know them, know them intimately, know that this particular sheep, he's a wanderer. He needs the club. Because if he doesn't, he's going to go away. Or this relatively sensitive and needs the soft approach at times. The point is, you need to know. You need to know intimately. You need to know personally the needs of the sheep. And knowing them in love, the good shepherd then cares for the flock. And what Jesus is saying here, that He knows them. He knows you. And therefore, in that knowledge of love, getting now into the second point of the sermon, there is in all comprehensive care of the flock. It's at this point, beloved, that I take this idea expressed in the text and apply it specifically to the work of elders in the church. This goes back to the opening comments in the introduction. Because everything I said is beautiful truth, beautiful doctrine, amazing to dwell on. But we do have to get to the question of how does Christ do this? How does he know us intimately? And how does he therefore care for us as his flock? And the answer to that question in part is that he does this through means. The Lord Jesus Christ ascended in heaven at God's right hand works in and through the means of the offices in the church. Where there are the offices, There is Christ. And where there is Christ, there is the care of the flock. Beloved, that's why we have to be so thankful that in this particular congregation, there is a faithful minister, faithful elders, and faithful deacons. Not so that you can look at a man who is the minister or elders as men or deacons and men and say, I'm thankful for them. We are thankful for them. Their presence here and their work here of bringing God's word faithfully, whether from the pulpit, from an elder, from the deacon with the mercies of Christ. is the indication to you as a congregation that Jesus is in our midst. By His Word, working through His Spirit. As believers, always, we have to work at seeing everything in the here and now and on this earth and in the church, and seeing the line that is drawn from what we see here and now as it goes directly up to heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ and then ultimately to the triune God who reigns over all. And that's the line that is so important for us as believers in the church to see. The offices in the church bringing the word faithfully is the presence of Jesus himself as the good shepherd caring for his sheep. And here we see in particular now that the office of elder in the New Testament scriptures is identified as a shepherd. There's two passages that are especially important in this respect. Acts 20 verse 28. Acts 20 verse 28. This is the word of the Apostle Paul as he's making his way back to Jerusalem. to the Ephesian elders. He stops off and he meets the elders in the church of Ephesus. And so that's who he's speaking to here in verse 28 of Acts 20. Take heed, he says, therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. He calls them to feed the flock, literally they're to shepherd the flock. If you feed and shepherd the flock, what that means is that you are shepherds yourselves, elders, identified in that way. The second passage is 1 Peter 5, where a very similar word is brought. 1 Peter 5, again, verse 1, The subject here is elders. The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder. And then verse 2, feed the flock of God which is among you. In other words, shepherd, as shepherds, the flock of God. So you take Acts 20 verse 28, 1 Peter 5 verse 1 and 2, and see it in connection with John 10. And the main point is clear. Jesus in heaven, the good shepherd of his sheep through the office of elder, who are shepherds, cares for the flock. Tremendous implications of that. Tremendous implications for the elders. Number one, that they must recognize that that's the case. I am but An elder must say, a laborer on behalf of the good shepherd of the sheep. Number two, I must have the love of Jesus Christ for the flock. And an elder will only have the love of Jesus Christ for the flock when he recognizes in the first place that he's a sheep. Before he's an elder, he's a sinner and a sheep saved by the Lord Jesus Christ who laid down his life for him. An elder must know first, I am a sinner saved by grace and I love the good shepherd of that sheep. And loving him, I love the flock over which I am called to labor. And number three, understanding this, elders must rely entirely upon the good shepherd for the strength and the wisdom to know and therefore to care for the flock. Knowing this truth that in the end it's Christ as the good shepherd leads every elder to say, I cannot do this on my own. I don't have the words to bring. I don't have the wisdom with which to deal with the matters that have to be dealt with. But Christ does because He's the Good Shepherd. And so through prayer, and careful reflection and study of God's Word, they labor dependent upon Christ for the strength to do the work. Implications for elders. to see this connection between John 10, Acts 20, 1 Peter 5, but also implications for you as a congregation. And the implications for you as a congregation is that to receive and to submit to the Word when it is faithfully brought by elders. It's to receive and to submit to the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ Himself. They are not Christ, but the Word that they bring is Christ's Word. And therefore the opposite is also true. Failure to receive and failure to submit to the elders and the Word that they bring is failure to receive and failure to submit to none other than Jesus Christ Himself. That's a tremendous implication of this truth that has to have profound impact upon the way in which we think about, interact with, and receive the elders into our homes and in all of the work that they do. And now this brings us back to the main idea that we've been developing in the text, and that's this idea of knowing the sheep. As I stated earlier, in order to care for the sheep, you must know the sheep. Christ does this in and through the office bearers. And the clear implication is that the elders therefore must know the congregation. If they do not know the congregation, they are not able to provide for their needs as they are called to. And that's why John 10 stands in a very direct way as a biblical basis for the good practice of family visitation. Because family visitation is exactly that. It's not a social visit. It's not a Bible study. It's not a time for those in the congregation to voice their grievances. It's a time for the elders to know the sheep and to know them in such a way, therefore, that they are able to care for the flock. And this explains the practice itself. The practice itself involves obviously, therefore, good pointed questions and discussions. To assess the spiritual needs and spiritual welfare of this particular home and family. To assess the particular dangers, a lot in John 10 about the hirelings, robbers, and thieves which seek to hurt the flock. To assess that things spiritually are well in this home. And that's why in family visitation, a lot of things have to be brought up. A lot of questions have to be asked. A lot of discussions have to be had. We have to talk about the truth and the love that is in this home or in this individual for that truth. And is this truth affecting us in our everyday walk? We have to talk about The worship of God. The worship of God in our homes as families. The worship of God privately in our personal life with God. And that's not just a yes or no answer, but that's a discussion. Are we coming to God as families? Are we worshiping Him in this home as believers? This is why priorities need to be discussed. What are the priorities in this home? Or in your life? And it's not just a matter of saying, I know God is first, I know our family worship is first, and my private devotions are very important in my life. It's not just saying that, but let's talk about what we're doing in our lives that reflects the priorities that we confess with our mouths. Those things have to be talked about. Covenant. Tremendously important truth to us as churches. Not just a cold, abstract doctrine, but it demonstrates itself in this home. Is there love here? Do the children know that mom and dad love each other? Is there family love? that's expressed in the way that we live with each other. Young people dating. Who? How? Why? Young people friends. Who? How? Why? Church. What's our life like here? Is this where we are laying up our treasures in heaven and not here below? And the list goes on and on. I'm just repeating what you know as a congregation and what you've experienced as members of a congregation in which there's family visitation. The point tonight is simply to reiterate the importance of that. And the importance of that to see how God works through that so that it's the Good Shepherd, not men, but the Good Shepherd who's caring for this flock. And what's striking in the text is that He knows them all. I know, He says, My sheep. Yes, it's one word. It's a collective word. My sheep. but the clear implication of that. So He knows each one. He knows each one because each one was in the book of life and eternity. Each one in their place was died for on the cross. And each one therefore is known and cared for in their needs. And isn't that beautiful, beloved, that that's reflected in our life as a church? Right here tonight with the preaching. To whom am I preaching? Preaching to the sheep together. To all of your needs. Obviously not done in every sermon addressing every need of every child of God. But the gospel at its core addresses every child of God in all of their needs. And that's what we do. And in family visitation. That's beautiful. Not one family, not one individual will not be visited in a giving year. Why? Because each one was precious to Christ. Each one is precious to these elders. Each one must be known, and each one must be cared for. And in the end, the good purpose of this is reflected in the end of the verse. and am known of mine." We're doing this towards an end. And the end is that Jesus, through these means, would care for the flock. And it may be the case that one visit with a family or individual is not enough. Maybe that's the opportunity to say, we need to help in other ways. But the point is through that, the flock is cared for. And I believe we could even say that the end of verse 14 summarizes, in a certain sense, the purpose of it all. And am known of mine. Beloved, that is beautiful. Jesus knows you. Jesus knows me. He's first. Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, lays down his life so that we might belong to the flock of God. And as the text says, they are known of Me." It's abominable to say that we don't know Jesus. Of course we do. John 10, we hear His voice. That's what's happening right now. You hear tonight the voice of Jesus Christ. You receive the elders and the work that they do. You know Jesus. You follow the Word of Christ. And in the end, this is all the elders or any other believer would want for any other person. To know Jesus. To hear His voice and to say in response to His voice, I believe it. I believe it with all of my heart. And I know, believing the voice of Jesus, that I'm unworthy of the work that Jesus has done for me. I hear His voice. I believe Him. And this is the Christian walk. I know Jesus. I know Him as my Lord and Savior. I know Him as my friend. I look to Him every single day for the forgiveness of my sins. I flee to Him for the power to fight against sin. And I live for Him. in everything I do. Out of love and out of thanks for what He has done for me. I walk with Jesus when I go to work in the morning. I'm with Jesus when I go to the field or the court or on Friday night. I serve my Jesus when I'm with my wife or with my husband. I give my life for this Jesus in every sphere of my life. This is the point of it all. He knows me by His grace. He saved me. And we know Him by faith, walking, and thankful obedience. May we know Him, having heard Him in the preaching, And may the elders in the work that they do bring his word so that through their word you hear him too. And may we together therefore know and be confident that the good shepherd knows his sheep as we know him as our Lord and Savior. Amen. Father in heaven, we're thankful for thy word, and we're thankful especially for Jesus Christ, who is the good shepherd of us, his sheep. And we pray for thy blessing upon the word that was brought, that it might have edified this congregation, as we worship thee together. We pray that thou wilt go with us now in this night, and go with us in this week to come. For Jesus' sake do we pray, amen. Let's sing now together what is, I think it's safe to say, the most familiar psalm relative to the idea of shepherd and flock. Let's turn to number 52 of Psalm 23. 52. Let's sing all four stanzas. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.