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Fourth Sunday of Easter

Lucky Pugh

April 26, 2015

John 10:11-18

Easter 4

Akron

Let us Pray:

Gracious and heavenly Father, You sent Your Son to be the Propitiation for
our sins. Reconcile us to Yourself and grant us Christs life so that we may
be caught up in Your continual work of restoring the world to Yourself:
through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus asks us to consider the difference

between the Good Shepherd and the hired hand - someone who is
hired just to baby sit the sheep.
Most of the time, it is hard to tell the difference between the Good
Shepherd and the hired hand. Both the Good Shepherd and the
hired hand lead the sheep to good pasture. They both see to it
that the sheep get the water they need. They both attend to the
minor cuts and scrapes of the flock. At the end of the day, both
see to it that sheep find safe shelter. It is very hard to tell the
difference between the Good Shepherd and the hired hand under
ordinary circumstances.
The one time that the difference becomes very clear is when the
flock is in danger, for example: when a wolf is stalking the
flock. When the wolf appears, the hired hand leaves the flock to

defend itself. The Good Shepherd goes out to meet the wolf and
defend the flock. The hired hand runs away.
The Good Shepherd puts His life on the line and gives it up for the
flock. The enemy of the flock brings out the difference between
the hired hand and the Good Shepherd.
Jesus tells us that He is our Good Shepherd. We are His
sheep. Our enemies are sin, death, and the power of the
devil. The hired hand is the false teacher who leaves us to defend
ourselves against sin, death, and the power of the devil.
The wolf is a powerful predator compared to the sheep. The
resources that the wolf has for converting sheep into lunch are
quite formidable. The resources that the sheep has to protect
itself are quite pathetic. You could put a tenth degree black belt
sheep up against a mangy, lazy, out-of-shape wolf and the sheep
will still become lunch.
Our enemies outmatch us even more than the wolf outmatches
the sheep. Peter describes the devil in this way: "Your adversary
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour." If we faced the devil on our own, we would quickly go
down in defeat. The odds are one hundred per cent that we would
fail.

It is not surprising then that all the false religions of the world
ask us to face the devil on our own.
The most dangerous false teachers are those who misuse the
Bible. These false teachers will range far and wide throughout the
pages of Holy Scripture.
They will demonstrate an incredible knowledge of the words on
the page. They will pull teaching after teaching after teaching out
the pages of the Bible. They will seem to be powerful teachers of
God's Word. Yet, in the end, they will teach the Bible falsely.
In last week's Gospel reading, we heard Jesus Himself give us the
key to unlocking the true meaning of God's Word. After He rose
from the dead He appeared to the disciples and He opened their
minds to understand the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit inspired Luke
to describe the teaching of Jesus with these words: beginning with
Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning himself. Jesus Himself told the
disciples, from Luke, "These are my words that I spoke to you
while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the
Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
These words teach us that the only correct understanding of the
Scriptures is the one that finds Jesus on every page.

After Jesus told His disciples the correct way to understand the
Bible, He told them how to share the Good News with other
people.
He said, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on
the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and
forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem." According to Jesus Christ
Himself, a true teacher of God's word will find Christ on every
page of the Bible and He will proclaim repentance and the
forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name.
When you are listening to someone who calls himself a preacher,
take the time to notice whether they follow the instructions that
Jesus gave to His church. Do they proclaim repentance and the
forgiveness of sins? Do they tell their hearers that they are
sinners who need a savior? Do they tell their hearers that their
only hope to be right with God is Jesus Christ hanging on a cross?
One time, I was channel surfing and I heard this woman say
words that were absolutely shocking. She said, "I am not poor, I
am not miserable, and I am not a sinner!" How does that square
with the inspired words of John? "If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." How does she
answer Jesus when He said, "Those who are well have no need of

a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners."
Did this woman realize that when she said, "I am not a sinner,"
she was telling Jesus that she did not need Him? She was telling
Jesus that she was ready to face the wolf alone?
The really sad thing is that this statement drew applause from the
hearers in the studio. Not only was this woman going to face the
wolf alone, but she also taught others to do the same.
I later found out that this woman had actually compiled a study
Bible. I had the unfortunate experience of watching this study
Bible create a great deal of despair in the life of a faithful
Christian. The actual words of the Bible itself would pour forth the
sweetest most comforting Gospel message, but then the study
notes for the passage would take the Gospel away. The study
notes would ask a question like, "How can we know that we are
worthy of such forgiveness?" The study notes would then go on to
pretty much cancel out the sweet Gospel in the actual Bible text.
The person who showed me the Bible asked me, "How can I know
that I am good enough for Christ to forgive me?"
I tried to explain that Jesus came specifically for the unworthy that His forgiveness is for everyone - that there is no need for us

to do anything at all - that we can know that we are going to

heaven because it is the promise of Jesus and that promise is
based on His perfect life, His suffering and death, and His
resurrection. It was hard for this person to believe all this
because it just seemed too good to be true. The notes in that
study Bible had sucked all the life out of the Gospel and left this
person in such a state of despair that this person had a hard time
believing the truth of the Gospel.
That statement, "I am not a sinner," was such an incredible and
horrifying false teaching that I had to continue watching until I
learned who this woman was. Her name is Joyce Meyer. For
anyone who has a copy of the study Bible Joyce Meyer did would
be better off just getting rid of it. Any message by anyone which
takes us away from the truth and relying on Christ alone for
forgiveness and salvation is dangerous and will set one up for the
attacks of satan.
One of the many sad things about Joyce Meyer and most other
false teachers that show up on the screen is that people have
turned these false teachers into millionaires many times
over. You see, the sheep really like it when someone tells them
that they are powerful enough to be victorious over the wolf. We
all want to believe we can do thing on our own. As helpless as we
may be, we think we are able. This message empowers the

sheep. It attempts to boost the self-esteem of the sheep. Sadly,

it is also a total lie.
No matter how much self-esteem and empowerment a sheep has,
he is but a sheep and will still become lunch for the wolf.
Jesus has told His church to teach repentance with words such as:
from Romans "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;"
and from Isaiah "All our righteous deeds are like a polluted
garment;" or from John "If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us;" and so forth. These words
teach us that we have no hope against our enemies in
ourselves. The only thing we can bring to the battle with our
enemies is our sin.
The teaching of repentance shows us that we must look outside of
ourselves if we are to have any hope. The teaching of repentance
prepares us to hear the teaching of forgiveness.
The teaching of forgiveness points us to Christ our savior. As
Jesus Himself taught in today's Gospel, He is the Good Shepherd
who laid down His life for the sheep. He is the one who sacrificed
Himself to rescue us from sin, death, and the power of the
devil. He did this not with gold or silver, but with His holy,
precious blood, and His innocent suffering and death.

Jesus is true God begotten of the Father and also true man born
of the Virgin Mary. Jesus lived a holy, sinless life in my place.
Then, even though He is totally innocent, He suffered for me. He
suffered beatings, floggings, and eventually death on a
cross. Even as He endured this horrible physical punishment, He
also endured the very wrath of God against my sin. With His
death He earned eternal life for me and all of humanity. With His
resurrection, He proclaimed that His sacrifice on the cross was
sufficient for me and all people. Now, all who believe in Him have
eternal life.
Jesus instructed His church to proclaim this forgiveness of sins to
all people. The false teacher will wring all kinds of teaching out of
the Bible without proclaiming repentance and the forgiveness of
sins in the name of Christ.
There will be little or no teaching about sin. Any teaching about
Christ will portray Him as some sort of life coach or an
example. There will be little if any teaching about the cross or the
resurrection. In the end, the false teacher will do exactly what
Jesus said in today's Gospel. He will teach the sheep to face the
wolf alone and will abandon the sheep when the wolf comes. In
the end, hell will devour the sheep who listen to the false prophet.

Jesus instructed His church not to follow the false

teachers. Instead, it is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ who is
our salvation.
He is the Good Shepherd who sacrificed Himself for the
sheep. He is the sacrifice who defeated our enemy and earned
eternal life for us. He is the one who has promised to safely take
His flock into eternal life. He is the one who laid down His life for
the sheep and who rose to live forever more.
Now may the Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit keep
our hearts and minds in the word of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen