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00:01 So we've got a very familiar passage uh with to all of us. We learn this even
00:06 from Sunday school, right? And when we are dying on our deathbed, they'll read to us, "The Lord is my shepherd too,
00:13 right?" So it that's a difficulty reading or preaching from a topic which
00:18 most of us know about. But let's get on to it. this um passage actually occurs
00:25 this within uh if you look at chapter 10 verse 22 at that time the feast of
00:31 dedication that took place at Jerusalem it was winter so this is a time where
00:36 there was a particular festival uh something wrong with the sound Malcolm it's too much uh background base okay so
00:44 it is the temp the feast of dedication this the only verse in the Bible that talks about the feast of dedication is
00:50 called hanuka if you If you have Jewish friends, they will all be celebrating Hanukkah. And Hanukkah is a time where
00:57 it was a time during the Meccabian uh revolt where after Alexander the Great
01:02 had taken over large tracks of Asia including uh Israel AD 300 something uh
01:10 BC. Uh there was a struggle between uh the local people with the Jews and all
01:16 those those Jews had been influenced by the Greeks. There were two particular high priests that led the people astray,
01:24 deliluted worship and then there was a big Makabian revolt against the two uh
01:31 priests which are named J Jason and Manaus. At the end of the revolt amazingly they overthrew the Greeks and
01:38 they actually had a dedication in the temple and they celebrated that dedication called the Hanuka. Why do I
01:44 mention Hanukkah? Hanukkah is important because that gives the setting for this particular passage. It is about their
01:52 betrayal of their leaders. The two priests Jason Malo was supposed to have
01:57 led the people to worship the one true god diluted the worship influenced by
02:04 the Greeks and it was only through a revolt where they were overthrown and
02:09 the proper worship was reinstituted. And so therefore we come to this particular passage there are mixed
02:15 metaphors in this passage. Just why you read one one minute he's talking about door next minute he's talking about
02:21 shepherd they say what is he talking about door shepherd what you know so so you need to sort it out that there are
02:26 two metaphors okay and need to understand that most of the metaphors
02:32 convey a similar truth okay um now there is the door and the good shepherd on one
02:39 hand and then the thieves and the hired hand on the other hand all right so basically as Osg M contrast is a mother
02:48 of clarity. The whole idea is to contrast so you can have an idea of the options that are left to us. So Jesus is
02:55 the good shepherd because and three reasons why he's the good shepherd in the areas of our life. He brings
03:01 intimacy and lastly security. Jesus brings life. Let's look at the uh
03:08 characteristics of authenticity. John 10 2:4. But he who enters by the door is
03:14 the shepherd of the sheep. So he comes in the right way to him. The gatekeeper,
03:19 he recognizes him. He opens. The sheep, hear his voice. He calls his own sheep
03:25 by the name and leads them out. When he's brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for
03:32 they know his voice. All these are characteristics of authenticity.
03:37 Coming in the proper way, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep respond. On the other hand, if you look in 10:1, truly I said
03:44 to you that he who does not empty the sheepfold by the door, climbs in another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
03:51 So there is a in contrast to the good shepherd, there's a thief and a robber, a stranger they will not follow. They
03:57 will not flee from him. They do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they
04:03 did not understand what he was saying. So here you have if you have somebody else come in, a false leader come in,
04:08 the sheep will not authenticate his ministry and historical background we
04:15 need to understand from this is taken from Ezekiel. In Ezekiel uh the prophet
04:21 Ezekiel who is an exelic pro uh exh prophet exile says thus says the lord
04:27 god the shepherds of Israel have been feeding themselves. Sound familiar?
04:33 Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You slaughter the fat ones.
04:39 But you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened. The sick you have not healed. The injured you have
04:46 not bound out. The stray you have not brought back. The lost you have not sought. With force and harshness you
04:51 have ruled them. These were the leaders of Israel. These were the people
04:58 entrusted with the care of the nation. And then he reads on, "And so they were scattered because there was no shepherd.
05:04 They became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered. They were wandering all over the mountains
05:09 and on every high hill my sheep were scattered all over the face of the earth with none to search and to seek for
05:14 them. Therefore you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, declares the Lord. Surely because my sheep have
05:21 become prey, my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts. since there was no shepherd. Because my shepherds have
05:27 not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and not fed my sheep. Therefore, you shepherds
05:32 hear the word of the Lord. And verse 22, I will rescue my flock. They shall no
05:41 longer be prey. I will judge between the sheep and sheep. I will set up over them
05:48 one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them. He shall feed them and be
05:54 their shepherd. And I the Lord of God will be their God. And my servant David
05:59 shall be prince among them. I the Lord am the Lord and I have spoken. Now you
06:06 need to understand this passage in the light of the Ezekiel passage where the people of God have been brutalized and
06:12 they're looking forward one day for some restitution, some some restoration. And
06:18 God himself promises that he will come in the person of his servant David. Then
06:23 the next metaphor is the door and the thieves. So Jesus said again to them, truly I say
06:29 to you, I am the door. Suddenly the metaphor changes to door, not sheep shepherd anymore. And all came before me
06:35 are thieves and robbers. And the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anybody enters by me, he'll be saved
06:41 and go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and destroy.
06:47 So therefore the contrast one brings life and one brings death. Then there's
06:52 a contrast between the good shepherd and the hired help. So when trouble comes I came that they may have life and have it
06:59 abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. What about the hired help? He who
07:05 is a hired hand and not a shepherd. He doesn't own the sheep. He sees the wolf coming and he leaves the sheep and
07:12 flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the
07:18 sheep. As the Chinese say, these are just the workers, right? They don't really care. They have no skin in the
07:24 game. They don't own the sheep. Uh I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me just as the father knows me
07:31 and know and I know the father. I lay down my life for the sheep. So there is a contrast between the good shepherd.
07:37 The good shepherd is a good shepherd simply because he owns the sheep. He cares for the sheep. the sheep respond to him and everybody else as they say
07:46 doesn't really care. So it's called self-sacrifice versus sheep sacrifice.
07:51 Now if you look at the shepherds of the New Testament, you can see the difference between Jesus coming in in
07:56 chapter nine and the Pharisees. The Pharisees were interested all they were interested in was Jesus healed the blind
08:02 man on the what? Sabbath day. That's besides the point. But they totally missed the point that Jesus actually
08:09 healed the sheep. You see? And they were basically showed themselves to be false shepherds. This is Paul speaking to the
08:16 Ephesian elders. All right, just before he leaves and he he's taken to Rome and
08:22 he he warns them, pay attention to yourself and all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseas to
08:27 care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will
08:34 come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves
08:39 will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them.
08:45 And then for be alert, remembering for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. Now I
08:52 commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give inheritance among those who are
08:58 sanctified. You see even after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ false
09:04 shepherds will come and this false shepherd don't come like any Tom Dick and Harry you know look
09:12 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things he's speaking to elders you know elders gone
09:20 wrong isn't the Chinese say that the rod comes from the head have you ever seen a church fight over one member they never
09:27 split over one member they always split over what the pastors or the elders. Rubbish starts from the head and and and
09:34 and this and the passage there teaches us about good shepherds and bad
09:39 shepherds. Look at the the incident of ecclesiastical crime. Basically, money
09:45 stolen by by clergy all over the world. 39 billion US, which is 6% of money
09:52 donated to church. And the total income of global foreign missions is actually the same amount. to actually steal the
09:58 same amount as you give to missions all over the world. That's that's shocking. You look at unreported fraud churches
10:05 95% secular corporation like 1 MDB only 66%.
10:10 We tend to bury the bad news isn't it from our bad shepherds. Uh very rarely
10:16 they get caught in a place like Singapore and and and put in jail. And and if you look at this particular
10:22 church, there was a uh one of the pastors who was kicked out and there was an interview with pastor Nathan Avidian.
10:29 He wrote, "I'm able to vouch for the fact that he was surrounded by yesmen. They were not real men. They weren't
10:34 challenging his decisions. They were not asking him to validate his statements or doctrine from scripture or how the word of God should be applied to the
10:40 grassroot level." See the departure is departure from the word of God. Mean and the modus operandi of the false shepherd
10:47 always saying, "Gather around." Yes. Isn't it? uh look at this from free Malaysia today yesterday former Johansa
10:55 I remember when the stories MDB first cropped up when the president came to pass Goudan I clearly remind the president the AMNO was problematic we
11:02 could not live in denial after that I was attacked and targeted by the president's people and the stooges including those in the P gang division
11:09 finally I decided not to reprimand the president I just supported him when he said opening the pas gang amno division
11:14 delegates meeting here and he said maj used all manners of tactic to extract members loyalty He used all sorts of
11:21 Islamic concepts to protect his personal interests. Very easy, you know. Use
11:26 religion and use the Bible, use something spiritual and everybody will have to cow out to you as it were. Now,
11:33 the effect of these leaders, the thieves come to steal and kill and destroy.
11:39 That's the effect of leaders like this. Jesus says, I've come to give them life and they have it abundantly. Verse 28, I
11:46 give them eternal life and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hands. Okay. And the whole
11:52 idea is life is actually eternal life. The quality of life that will characterize our time with him forever
11:59 and abundant life, extraordinary beyond what is necessary. This is what Jesus
12:07 offers us. But in today's world, there are many prophets that come out and they
12:14 kind of twist the message a little bit. Yeah, Jesus gives you eternal life, but
12:19 it's spiritually, physically, and financially. There's not see there's truth there to
12:26 give you eternal life and good life, but it also includes the financial aspect.
12:31 So therefore, you you see one of the largest churches in the world, Nigeria. Uh this is a picture of that church. It's called the winners chapel. The
12:37 people come to church are all winners. Everybody outside is losers. I mean, it's amazing, isn't it? Uh, and the
12:44 worst thing I was looking at YouTube and hearing the sermon from this gentleman called Jesse Duplantis. Americans have
12:51 got much to be ashamed of. Uh, this guy preaches to 750,000
12:56 people in the United States. His radio broadcast goes to 750,000.
13:01 Can you imagine that? And he wants another jet. He's got two. Uh, the next
13:07 jet that he wants looks like this. will have this because that will help the
13:12 word of God spread faster over the United States and and we've got whole false shepherds
13:18 like this all over the world who are worth a lot of money 150 million 147 million and we don't pay our pastors
13:24 enough here I reckon you know if I put the network of our pastor ling next to pastor Rama
13:30 there no face to show is see the false shepherd's moving us in the wrong
13:36 direction and the whole idea is a rights centered gospel bad things happen to us because of sin and a lack of faith. So
13:43 so basically believers are to grab hold and control of life again by by using
13:51 faith. The whole idea of uh confession of positive confession you know uh it
13:58 was the story told of a woman in church who met her pastor. It was um sign
14:03 Christian Science Church and he and woman's husband was sick and the pastors asked him you know how's your your
14:09 husband? My husband is sick he's ill. Pastor said no in this church you must
14:15 not say he's sick and he's ill you must say he's under the impression he's sick you know. So he went around a few weeks
14:22 later on he met the woman again and he said, "How's your husband?" And she was going to say, "Huh?" And she stopped
14:28 herself halfway. He He's under the impression he's dead.
14:39 We come to a situation now where there's Christians and non-Christians. There's not a lot of difference because the end
14:45 is the same. Material abundance in life. The non-Christians achieves by hard
14:50 work. the Christian achieved by faith. The more faith you have, the more material abundance you have in life. But
14:56 the end goal is still the same. So therefore, we actually have been hijacked. Augustine of Hippo, one of the
15:02 early church fathers said, "All abundance which is not my God is emptiness to me." The thief comes to
15:10 steal and kill and destroy. They promise you a fake life. And not only that, your
15:16 entire life is consumed and wasted. absolutely wasted on the wrong things.
15:22 This is Jim Carrey, a very famous comedian. You've all watched his shows. Let me read to you how he feels. I I
15:30 guess getting to the place where you have everything everybody has ever desired, realizing you're still unhappy
15:36 and you can be still unhappy is a shock when you have accomplished everything
15:42 you ever dreamt of and more than you realize. My gosh, it's not about this. I
15:48 wish for everyone to be able to accomplish those things so that they could see a very highly accomplished
15:56 actor, comedian, and my gosh, he comes to a situation where he's got everything
16:03 and yet there's something else missing. Katie Spade, a billionaire who recently
16:09 died, uh, basically killed herself. And you know what she said about suicide?
16:15 These are her exact words. I would never do that. I will never do that. I will never do that. That's what she said. And
16:22 yet she took her life. And then there was a psychiatrist psychologist from the Northwestern University who actually
16:28 wrote at some point in everybody's life, they have said that they would never do it. But I believe we are all just a few
16:35 life events away from considering it. So that for me, we're all on that continuation. There's no such thing as
16:42 coming up and saying, I I won't do that. I won't do that. Suicide just a few clicks away. What are the factors
16:47 involved in the suicide? Perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, hopelessness,
16:53 acquired capability. If you feel that you don't belong, all right, to anybody or anything, then
17:00 you feel alone and you want to kill yourself. The the desire to belong is so strong.
17:09 Anybody what know what this word is? Put your hands up. Huh? What is it?
17:15 Nola, you're wrong. Minia Bjan, sesame oil, isn't it? Sesame oil. You
17:23 never read newspaper. The word bjan in the last two weeks has
17:29 been the most looked up work in Google more than Mexico versus whatever. Can
17:35 you imagine Bjan? All right. And the whole idea to buy a Bjan bag who is
17:40 because you want to belong. You belong to exclusive club where you actually
17:45 have people like Barack Obama, George, all the bushes, Bill Clinton, Prince
17:52 Charles, Pierce Brostston, Anna Schwarzenegger, Hugh Hefner and Prince Renier, they all own a bag. Not this
17:58 bag, but the tie or something else because this idea of wanting to belong
18:03 is very very important to them. This is uh Elizabeth Wartzell who wrote a
18:09 bestseller New York called Prozac Nation. a a child of divorce, drugs and
18:15 depression and and and she really uh went off the deep end. She cut herself
18:20 at a very young age, went on all sorts of things. And if you look at it, she wasn't a poor person like the picture
18:27 you saw of the poor Indian kids who have got nothing. She was actually got in
18:32 Harvard. How many of you can get to Harvard? She got good grades in Harvard. She she uh was in still college, was a
18:38 valued reporter for the Dallas Morning News. She won a Rolling Stone College Journalism Award and she has a whole
18:44 bunch of friends. And yet a person like that, not unlike Jim Carrey, would
18:51 actually go into drugs, depression, and divorce. And and this is very insightful. It came
18:59 out from uh uh USA Today Christian Power. She writes rather than pathologic
19:06 path path pathologizing the despair and emotional suffering that is a rational
19:13 response of culture that values people based on the ever escalating financial
19:18 and personal achievements. We should acknowledge that something is very wrong. We should stop telling people who
19:24 yearn for a deeper meaning in life that they have an illness or a therapy. Instead, we need to help people craft
19:30 lives that are more meaningful and build on a firmer foundation than personal success. Is the problem is that if
19:36 you're depressed because you lack meaning in life, the pathologist or the the psychiatrist sit you down and give
19:41 you proact because that inner emptiness is perceived as a pathological disease.
19:49 There's nothing wrong with you. But actually there's nothing wrong with you. Kirsten P's right. what you are
19:54 experiencing is actually natural human response to the fact that you're living a meaningless life which is very so
20:01 that's why they're depressed and suicidal because something wrong with their culture. They're on what we call the the psychiatrist call a hedonic
20:08 treadmill which means you you you go through life trying to look for things to make you happy. But the fact the
20:15 matter in a hedonic uh treadmill according to psychiatrist is that you know good things happen bad things
20:21 happen your happiness goes up and goes down goes up but it always goes back to the midline and you need more and more
20:28 things to stimulate you isn't it? you know, some of them for a local example, for example, you know, $1.1 billion of
20:35 stuff, you know, lots and lots of stuff. So that you know, you you go away from
20:40 the baseline, but you still go back to the baseline. I'm very glad after after they took away all this money, they had
20:48 a big party, 500 people attended and and she was actually singing a song by Ed
20:53 Sheeran called Perfect. Why? No money, it's perfect. So now
20:59 she's surrounded by 500 friends. She's starting to see, you know, there's more to life than one $1.1 billion dollars.
21:07 When he has brought them all out, he goes before them and the sheep follow
21:12 him for they know his voice. The sheep hear my voice and I know them and they
21:18 follow me. And here the good shepherd is the one that gives you know it's life abundant is life with direction.
21:26 All right. I think I've heard a lot of preachers before and they say sheep are stupid. Sheep are not stupid because
21:33 here sheep are smart enough to recognize the shepherd and follow the shepherd. In
21:39 fact, there's an experiment by University Cambridge that proves sheep are not stupid. They put pictures of
21:47 Barack Obama and uh who else that that um I can't
21:53 remember. uh Hermione in Harry Potter. Who acts as Hermione?
21:59 Emma Watson and uh Jake Gyllenhaal. They put all these pictures up because the they are quite sure that British sheep
22:06 have not met these people before. And they flash a two-dimensional image of these uh pictures up and under Barack
22:13 Obama's picture if they go near the picture and sniff it all the food will come down. A picture of somebody else it
22:19 won't. And you can find sheep responded to Barack Obama in 80% of cases. That
22:25 mean they actually recognize Barack Obama. You put Peter's face, no no food,
22:30 nothing. You get nothing. You see? So sheep are not stupid. They actually recognize in fact two dimensional image.
22:36 Then they show another image which is side view. Sheep also can recognize side view. Can you imagine? So sheep are not
22:43 stupid. They recognize people. They recognize and they respond because the
22:50 shepherd has to lead them this kind of Judeian countryside to which the sheep have to eat. They follow they can fall
22:57 down treacherous ravines the small clumps of of of uh uh food here and
23:02 there. It's very very dangerous and the shepherd has got to be very skilled.
23:08 Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I I shall not want. He makes me lie down green hair pastures. He leads me beside
23:14 still waters. He restores my souls. He leads me in a path of righteousness for his name's sake. See, abundant life
23:21 doesn't consist on the things that you get in the mall. It consists on a direction, a path of righteousness.
23:28 That's what Jesus means by an abundant life. Psalm 16, you make known to me the
23:33 paths of life. In your presence there's fullness of joy. In your right hand, there are pleasures forever more. It is
23:40 a path of life. The shepherd gives you direction. in a direction is where it brings you uh to a abundant life. An
23:48 abundant life is not This is a picture of a island I've been to some years ago
23:53 called Burano. You know what the meaning of Burano? Mick aisle of happiness.
24:01 So you stay this island, you own one of the boat, you stay in the red color house for the rest of your life. How
24:08 many of you like that? Most of us will kill ourselves.
24:13 Why? Because this is Victor Emil Frankle who wrote the book man's search for meaning
24:20 and he actually said this what man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather a striving and
24:26 struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost but a call of a
24:31 potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him. It is a meaningful life. The good shepherd is a shepherd
24:38 that gives you a meaningful life. Joy is a product of meaning. Elizabeth Wertzil,
24:46 all I want in life for this pain to seem purposeful. She's actually looking for
24:52 some kind of purpose. Uh this is a uh a book written by Emily Espahani Smith,
24:59 New York bestseller, I think. And um she writes about people chasing happiness. Happiness is about feeling good in the
25:06 moment. Feeling of the state of comfort and ease. Meaning is about belonging to
25:11 serving something beyond yourself. It's about believing that your life matters and it makes sense and there's a depth
25:16 of well-being that comes with it. And even as a non-Christian author, you come
25:22 up with stuff that Bible tells you about. It's about meaning. It's about belonging, purpose, transcendence, and
25:30 storytelling. Why do we give money to the Tabong Harapan?
25:36 Because now we are proud of this nation that has turned around and we want to be part of something greater than
25:42 ourselves. In fact, there's somebody in Puchong or is it Kajjang? They're selling this sort of uh it's called the
25:48 trillion dollar bun. $1 trillion. So every time you buy this bun, they give you $1 to pay for the to pay for our $1
25:55 trillion debt. So please all don't rush off to clang and get this. Jesus said my food is to do the will of
26:02 him who sent me. All right, that's Jesus task. That's his meaning in life to accomplish the work. Do not say there
26:08 yet at four months and then comes the harvest. Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see their fields white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is
26:14 receiving wages, gathering fruit for eternal life. So the swer and the reaper may rejoice together. Jesus conceives of
26:22 his life as one cons subsumed by his mission. His mission is to do the task
26:29 to do the will of him who sent me. And the whole task is about sharing the gospel. In the end, the one who reaps is
26:35 receiving the wages, gathering fruit for eternal life so that the ser and the reaper may rejoice together in the
26:41 process of sharing the gospel. There is joy and purpose. Parable of the swer
26:46 after the master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of
26:54 the master." The joy of the master is related to the way the servant has used
26:59 his talents. The one who didn't use his talents is the place of darkness and nashing of teeth. So abundant life is
27:07 related to a task, a purpose where God has created us. One of the pillars of
27:13 meaning is transcendence. Um this is a picture of my mentor Dr. Clarence Lei.
27:18 Um I he sent this picture to all of us urologists in the country and I was wondering why you know there's a fish
27:26 they caught. I can get much bigger fish in parks and grand. Don't you think?
27:33 With much less effort. I don't have to go board and get sunburned the whole night, you know, just to get one lousy
27:40 bit of fish, right? But the story doesn't end there because the one carrying the fish is his daughter. And
27:47 you can see it's not going on a boat and spending 5 hours there. It's actually going on a boat, spending five hours
27:53 catching one tiny little fish, which you can throw back anyway. but it's spending time with your
27:59 daughter. You need transcendence. You need something that you do and that is useful beyond the actual task that you
28:06 actually do. Uh let me illustrate this is kio meaning if you go to Japan this is the big latest craze. If you're an
28:12 old person there and you're kind of lonely, your children have left you behind. They all migrated to Australia
28:18 like mine. So one day I'll buy this robot, right? And I and I'll sit down
28:23 there and the robot will talk to me and tell me, "Oh, Peter, you're great. You're wonderful." And I feel so happy,
28:30 you know, and I'm my my sense of meaning is restored. How many of you would do that? Most of us won't. You know why?
28:37 Because it's a stupid robot. It means nothing. There's no transcendence. You know, you the activity doesn't go
28:43 beyond. There's no deeper meaning to this, isn't it? That's why we don't get these robots. How many of you older
28:49 people here? How many of you watch cartoons anymore? only only young people, right? The older
28:55 people don't watch cartoons anymore because, you know why? Because we've gone. We There's no reality. You know, the the wolf falls down from the, you
29:02 know, from from the high cliff 15 times and he never dies. There's no reality. There's no
29:07 transcendence. There's no meaning behind the cartoon. That's why most of us don't watch cartoons, isn't it? CS Lewis talks
29:14 about joy. And it's very interesting how he talks about one of the joys in this book called meditations in a tool shed
29:19 is that he gives an example of watching light come into a tool shed and the
29:25 light came to shed through a little crack not a window I couldn't get the one from the crack and he and he said
29:30 these words that the joy is most of us are seeing the beam and not seeing the
29:36 things by it. For example, if you actually go out and enjoy a meal and now
29:42 all of you go out and enjoy a meal and you see Facebook is filled with only two pictures. You know what the pictures
29:47 are? The food and the friends. Why is that?
29:54 Why don't you put something else robot or something else? Because these two
29:59 actually have a transcendent meaning. All right? I mean if you just come down
30:04 and eat the food, do you actually sit down and think why am I enjoying my meal? There's a meaning behind that. So
30:11 what CS Lewis is saying, we often just look at the rays of light and he what he
30:16 did was actually looked at the ray of light and he looked through the window and you know looking through the window
30:22 he actually sees the trees and he sees the sun 90 billion miles away and he
30:27 sees the source of the joy that comes. You can't enjoy the things of the world
30:33 and what that God gives you unless you that that stimulates a longing for the
30:38 for a meaning behind it. Let me give you an example is Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes
30:44 gives you a wisdom. There's nothing better. Ecclesiastes written by Solomon who has done everything. Richest man in
30:50 the world, wisest man in the world did everything else and everything is worthless. And he concludes there's
30:57 nothing better for a person than he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also I saw is from the
31:04 hand of God. For apart from him who can eat and who can have enjoyment. You see we must have transcendence isn't it?
31:10 Whatever we do and eat. If we don't look at the meaning behind it, there is no joy. There has to be a joy. For example,
31:16 if I give you the best meal in the world and the next day I'm going to execute you, how would you feel? Would you
31:24 actually enjoy that meal knowing that tomorrow will be your last day? You see, I mean the meal needs to be linked to
31:31 some meaning behind the meal. And you cannot enjoy your money whether it's 1.1 billion or whatever unless there's some
31:38 meaning behind which we actually CS Lewis says joy comes from looking through that window and looking at the
31:43 joy and looking at the source of the blessing that comes only from God.
31:49 The last pillar of meaning where this lady has written is about storytelling. And I think this has resonance in scripture. If you look at chapter nine,
31:57 you have the blind man, blind for 40, 50 years of his life, suffering
32:02 immeasurably, eating scraps that people throw at him. And then suddenly he's
32:08 healed. And his story is whether he is sinner, I don't know. One
32:14 thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. That's his story. And now the point
32:21 is that all his life he lived a miserable life at the edge of survival
32:28 until Jesus came and Jesus came and put the last piece in the puzzle that puts
32:36 our suffering in perspective that frames our story within the larger framework of
32:42 what God is doing in the universe. Without that picture, we suffer an
32:48 existential crisis because we don't know why we're here. And so when Jesus comes
32:54 and heals him and he becomes Jesus' witness, he puts that last thing that puts down there say, "Ah, now I know why
33:02 I was blind for 40 years." So that everybody in Jerusalem knows about me. Everybody laughed at me. Everybody
33:08 looked down at me. And now when Jesus healed me, I am the greatest witness for Jesus Christ in this town. Now, I know
33:16 that that that last jigsaw puzzle fits together and we're fine. That's why if
33:23 you look at the abundant life, there's a contradiction in scripture. Can you see the contradiction? The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I came that
33:30 they may have life and have it abundantly. Paul writes, "For it has
33:36 been granted for you for the sake of Christ that you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.
33:41 engage in the same conflict you saw that I had and now here that I still have written from prison. You take these two
33:48 pieces of scripture and say this one I like. Okay, if you're Thomas Jefferson and this one I like the other one I
33:54 don't like. How do you actually reconcile it with abundant life? Look at
33:59 Jesus Hebrews 2:10. For it's fitting that he whom uh uh but and by whom all
34:06 things exist in bringing many sons to glory should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
34:13 Wow. Is Jesus not perfect? Was he imperfect?
34:19 That he had to be perfected through suffering. Look at the word perfect. Actually, it's a vocational sense of the
34:26 word. So, it doesn't imply moral imperfection. to bring to completion, to bring to full measure, to perfect. It's
34:32 like having a beautiful of the assembly line perfect, you know. Well, almost
34:38 perfect. It It can run. It can do everything. You got bells and whistles when you you know you and what happens,
34:47 but it's not really complete. You know why? You got to take it and you got to road test it. You got to take this car
34:53 and you got to run around Subanga or drive to Penang and come back and then it becomes perfect in a sense it's road
35:01 tested and Jesus is doing the same thing I um here although he was a son he
35:08 learned see Jesus learns obedience through what he suffered he's morally perfect perfect son of God but he's
35:15 never been criticized he's never been hit and still obey he's being road tested
35:22 through what he suffered and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey. So this is
35:28 the template. This is the pattern that the shepherd gives us. The shepherd himself suffered to be perfected as it
35:36 were. This is in Malaysia Kiny some time ago. Omat Sabu is now inspecting all the
35:43 the guards and one of the problems that he brought up was you know the people
35:48 are very upset in the army that you have politicians who wear the beret of a
35:54 parachutter. He has never jumped out of an airplane his entire life. I don't
35:59 think he's even jumped out of a swimming pool board, you know, and he gets to wear that wing, you know. And what about
36:07 him? And what about him? That was the ultimate insult.
36:13 We don't know whether he's actually can swim. And and he's he wears the
36:19 commander of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve Force. That that that
36:25 uniform shows that you have suffered. That uniform shows that you are of substance,
36:32 that you have been perfected. You see what I mean? So therefore, it's a betrayal. And so therefore the good life
36:38 Philippians I've rejoiced Lord greatly now at length you revive your concern for me. You indeed concern for me but
36:45 you have no opportunity. Not that I'm seeking to be in need. I've learned to be uh uh I've learned to be whatever
36:52 situation to be content. I know how to be brought low. I know how to be abound in every in every circumstance. I've
36:57 learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger and abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ to strengthen me. The issue is not whether you're
37:04 happy or you're sad. good things or bad things. What is the issue? The issue is I can do all things to Christ who
37:10 strengthen me because we are on the road to salvation. We have been saved. We are being saved. We shall be saved. It is a
37:17 road. We are being road tested. And so therefore the abundant life incorporates
37:22 our story of suffering as well because this is the real life. And the whole idea is the reorganization of the value.
37:29 Philippians say whatever gain I had counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as lost because the surpassing worth of knowing
37:35 Jesus Christ, my Lord, as a reorganization of value. That's why we see life in this respect. Let me end
37:43 this section with John Piper's quote. When we have little and have lost much, Christ comes and reveals himself as more
37:49 valuable than what we have lost. When we have much and are overflowing in abundance, Christ comes and he shows
37:55 that he's far superior to everything we have. So life is focusing on the immense
38:01 value of Christ. Second thing that that I'm going to end with the last two very quickly is the intimacy.
38:09 All right. Uh Jesus brings intimacy. See he says to the gatekeeper
38:15 opens the the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep and he leads them out. And he has brought up all his own.
38:21 He goes before them and the sheep follow him and they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow. they will flee
38:27 from him for they do not know the voice of strangers. During the Palestinian uprising inifad 1980s, the Israeli
38:34 troops actually uh took over entire village and they confiscated everybody's sheep, you know, put them all hundreds
38:41 and thousands of sheep into one big pen. And there was a poor widow who actually depended very much on her sheep to
38:47 survive. She came to the soldiers and said, "Look, you know, you got to help me. you got to get my ship out because
38:53 if if they don't come out I will actually die of starvation. The soldier took pity at her and said you look like
38:59 a few thousand sheep. You go you go and take a pick up which are your sheep. He never expected her to be able to do
39:05 that. Her son came and played the flute and 25 sheep came out.
39:10 25 sheep come out. And it's true the sheep recognized there is a intimate
39:15 knowledge between the sheep and the shepherd. And what we want in the in the good shepherd is is because it's
39:22 intimacy, it's relationship. Uh this is Harold Kushner who wrote the book when
39:27 bad things happen to good people. And uh he gave an example of being on the
39:33 shores of a beach and they saw two three children playing and they were building
39:38 a nice big castle, you know, sand castle. Another build take so much trouble to build sand castle. Then the
39:45 wave came gone. And he thought there will be tears and crying and recrimination and tantrum.
39:52 But you know what the children did? They laughed. They held their each other's hands and they went to another part of
39:58 the beach and started building another. You see life is tenuous. The waves will
40:06 come and wash everything away. Isn't it? But the important thing is that who holds your hands so that you go
40:13 somewhere else and build another castle. And Jesus offers that. He offers intimacy. An intimacy that no human
40:20 being could give you. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. Just as the father knows me, I know
40:26 the father. I lay down my life. The intimacy is so great that he can lay
40:31 down his life for the sheep. And this intimacy is the basis of his action. For this reason, the father loves me because
40:38 I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have the
40:43 authority to lay it down and I have the authority to take it up again. This charge I receive from my father. Jesus
40:48 says I and the father are one. So therefore when Jesus gives his life to save us, it is God who actually is one
40:57 with him doing it's not just Jesus. God upset Jesus dies for us but actually
41:03 part of God's plan. Jesus and God are one. All right. And then here, oh
41:08 righteous father, even though the world does not know you, I know you. and these know you that you've sent I have made
41:14 known to them your name I will continue to make it known that the love with which you have loved me may be in them
41:19 so this is the intimacy the kind of love that Jesus promises all of us and then he says I have other sheep that are not
41:26 of this fold I must bring them they will listen to me my voice so there'll be one sheep one shepherd and one flock so
41:34 Jesus actually uh has sheep it's not just in this church Jesus could tell us
41:39 the people of God who sheep are not here. No, they're out there too. And his
41:46 love is so great for them that he's always thinking about them. It means he extends to sheep outside the flock. This
41:52 in Corinth and and undergoing persecution, the Lord said to Paul in one night in the vision, do not be
41:58 afraid, but go on speaking, do not be silent, for I'm with you. No one will attack you and harm you, for I have many
42:03 in this city who are my people. These people haven't come to know Christ yet, you know. But Jesus, but God says to
42:11 him, I got many in this city. And he's saying to us, I've got many people in Sububang Jaya
42:18 who are my people, my sheep. Uh Paul says, therefore, I endure everything for
42:23 the sake of what? The elect that they may obtain the salvation. That is the extent of Christ's love. Lastly, he is a
42:32 good shepherd not only because he provides intimacy and an undying love and sacrificial love is because of
42:38 security. eternal security. Jesus answered them, "I told you, you do not believe. The
42:43 works I do, my fathers bear witness about me. You do not believe because you
42:49 are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them. They follow me. I give them eternal life. They will not
42:54 perish. No one will snatch them from out of my hands. My father has given them to me is greater than art than all. And no
43:01 one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one." So this is a promise that they
43:06 will never be snatched away. 29 Father who has given them to me is
43:12 greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand and I and the father are one. This is the
43:19 work of the father. We are his sheep because the father has given them to me.
43:26 John chapter 6 verse 44. No one comes to me unless the father sent me draws him
43:33 and I will raise him up on the last day. This verse is actually very controversial. uh there are if you
43:39 actually the the the Greek word is alo which means to move an object from one
43:44 area to another in a pulling action uh the Armenian position let's do a bit of
43:50 theology if you're a Methodist church they believe that when God comes with
43:55 the gospel he's like the Indian Bollywood movie he's like you know how
44:01 he draws you to himself he whisers the gospel and like a boy and a girl he will
44:07 draw you and then somehow you hear the Indian music and the romantic music and
44:12 then you're you're drawn there and then he pulls back a bit and then you draw back and forth. Have you ever seen that?
44:19 Right. But Ephesians chapter 2 says we are
44:24 what? Dead. How you going to draw a dead fellow? He's dead. Uh, and if you
44:31 actually look at the use of the word alur in the New Testament, James, you have dishonored the poor man. Are not
44:38 the rich the one who oppressed you and drag you to court. Woo you to court. How many people kind of can woo you to
44:44 court? Um, and then he says, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some." They cast it and now
44:50 they're not able to woo it. He woo the fish under the boat. Is it? Okay. Okay. And then Acts chapter 16, when the
44:55 owners saw that that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace. Wow.
45:03 Was it drag or woo? So, so the whole issue is that God actually drags us as
45:11 it would actual translation should be drag. God in his sovereign grace and power
45:17 brings us heal from death and drags us. Now, if he does that, you think he's
45:23 going to let you go. He's gone to all his trouble. You're already dead, you know, and he's dragged you out and saved
45:29 you. And this good shepherd will never let you go. That's why in Psalm 23, it says, "Even though I walk through the
45:36 valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
45:42 Once you're in the hands of the shepherd, he will not let you go. And sometimes all of you try to judge
45:48 people. Oh, that fell didn't come to church, you know, five times. Must be gone already.
45:54 Yeah, I hear that all the time. You know, you know, poor thing, he's finished. Look in scripture. Corinthian
46:02 excommunicated chapter 5. This man has his father's wife. My goodness. If you
46:08 have this in first baptist, you'll be talking about it for takes 10 years. Oh, usually happens to leaders or
46:15 pastors and then they get excommunicated, right? Rightly so. But you look second Corinthians,
46:23 you see this guy for such this punishment by majority is enough. So you should for turn and forgive him, comfort
46:30 him, he may so as he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love to even that guy who
46:36 has his father's wife came back and repented. Never write people off. Because when God
46:43 has you, he doesn't let you go. King David, you think he's a great guy. Man
46:49 after God's own heart and your neighbor's wife, right? Man after God's own heart and
46:56 your neighbor's wife. So if you're having a party him, be careful about your wife.
47:02 And still he is David. God forgives him. Peter,
47:10 Judas, they both denied Christ, you know, right? This is what Jesus said
47:16 about Judas. After that, he had taken the morsel. Satan entered him. Jesus said to him,
47:23 "What you are to do are going to do quickly." Peter, this is what Jesus
47:28 said. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. But I prepared prayed
47:35 for you that your faith may not fail and you have turned strengthened your
47:40 brothers. What's the difference between the two? One Jesus prayed for him to come back.
47:46 The other one says bye-bye. It's a fact. That's a big fact. While I was with
47:53 them, I kept them in your name which you have given me. I've guarded them and not one of them have been lost except son of
48:00 destruction that scripture might be fulfilled. So if God brings you into the kingdom,
48:06 my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them from the father's hand. I
48:13 and the father are one. So the good shepherd brings you life, abundant life
48:20 as it should be lived with meaning, direction, suffering and a context which
48:26 he frames you in the order of this universe. The good shepherd is a good shepherd because he gives you intimacy.
48:32 He is only one who can fill your heart and the good shepherd will never let you
48:38 go. Let's pray. Father Lord, we just thank you for this day
48:46 that we all need a shepherd and that we are so grateful that you are
48:54 our good shepherd, a good and noble shepherd. And there's so many false shepherds in the world that try to
48:59 entice us and trick us and move us away so that we may lose our lives. But we thank you this morning as we declare in
49:07 the Lord's supper as we've taken the bread. We've taken the wine. We belong to you. You have dragged us into the
49:13 kingdom of God and you will never let us go. We only ask that we as your sheep
49:21 will continue to listen to your voice, recognize your voice, and live lives
49:28 that are abundant, that have meaning that glorify your name. For we ask for
49:34 Jesus sake. Amen. [Music]
