Category: New Testament

The Great Shepherd Restores the Soul

Part One: Jesus Is Our Great Shepherd

Psalm 23: 1

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The Lord is my shepherd, maker, Father, protector, the Great Shepherd.

Our needs are taken care of. It’s not what we think we need; what He has for us is all we need.

David is writing out of his own experience as a shepherd to his father’s sheep as a young boy.

1 Samuel 16: 11

And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

Sheep are completely dependent on the shepherd for provision, guidance and protection.

As God’s children, we are dependent on Him for His guidance and protection. The New Testament calls Jesus the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.

Psalm 23: 2

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

When you drive by or fly over farmland, you’ll see the green pastures. What a peaceful feeling that brings. This is the feeling you have when you truly place yourself in God’s hands.

Isaiah 43: 2

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

God will lead you to the path of rightness. If you go your own way, you are going to walk the path Satan has for you. Don’t think that Satan isn’t waiting to lead you. Check out the following verses below.

Job 2:2

And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Matthew 4: 1

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Now if the devil thought he could tempt Jesus, what do you think he can do with you? Without Jesus to protect you, you have no chance against Satan.

When you put ourselves in Jesus’s hands, you have contentment. Psalm 23 does not focus on the animal-like qualities of sheep but on the discipleship qualities of those who follow Our Lord and Savior.

However, when you choose to sin, you go your own way. Don’t blame God for the place you find yourself.

Psalm 23: 3

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

God won’t lead you to a wrong path.

He restores you because He loves you. He loved us before we loved Him.

God sent His Son to pay for your sins. And by sending His Son, He made a way for you to go to Him directly without anything or anyone intervening.

He restores your soul out of love, but if you are rebellious and disobedient, you are going against your own best interest.

Read the full chapters of the Scriptures referenced:

Psalm 23

1 Samuel 16

Isaiah 43

Job 2

Matthew 4

Please return later this week for Part Two of Jesus Is Our Great Shepherd.

Fear of God is the Beginning of Wisdom

Scripture: Luke 12: 4-5

“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Scripture Commentary:

We go through life in fear of not pleasing the “right people,” not having certain possessions, and making/having a certain amount of money. If this is your path, are you lost?

Think about this: God has given you everything that you need.

What have you given to God? When life has left your body, you can’t say, “Wait, Lord. Forgive me; give me another chance.”

Jesus told His disciples to watch out for the hypocrites who try to appear good but their hearts are far from God. If you please Our Lord Jesus Christ, you will please people.

Fear of opposition and ridicule can weaken your witnessing for Christ.

We often cling to peace and comfort, even at the cost of our walk with God. Jesus reminds us that we should fear God who controls eternal, not merely temporal, consequences.

Our true value is God’s estimate of our worth, not that of our peers.

People evaluate and categorize you according to how you perform, what you achieve, or how you look. Jesus takes you for your love of Him, not them.

Read the Entire Chapter”

Luke Chapter 12

Jesus Spoke Plainly About His Purpose

Part Two: Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Son of Man. Jesus spoke plainly about His purpose.

Scripture: Mark 8: 32

He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Note: Peter was not considering God’s purpose but only his own natural human desires and feelings when he rebuked Jesus. Peter wanted Christ to be king, not the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 53.

Peter saw only part of the picture.

Like the other disciples, Peter was ready to receive the glory of following the Messiah but not the persecution. He was often the spokesman for all the disciples. In singling Peter out, Jesus may have been addressing all of them indirectly. Unknowingly, the disciples were trying to prevent Jesus from going to the cross and fulfilling His mission on earth.

Satan also tempted Jesus to avoid the way of the cross (see Matthew 4). Whereas Satan’s motives were evil, the disciples were motivated by love and admiration for Jesus. Only after Jesus’s death and resurrection would they fully understand why He had to die.

What does it mean to take up the cross?

The Romans, Mark’s original audience, knew what taking up the cross meant. A prisoner carried His own cross to the place of execution, signifying submission to Rome’s power.

Jesus used the image of carrying a cross to illustrate the ultimate submission required of His followers.

Read the Entire Chapters of the Scriptures Referenced:

Mark Chapter 8

Isaiah Chapter 53

Matthew Chapter 4

Jesus, Son of God; Son of Man

Part One: Jesus is the Son of God and Son of Man. He did not come as King, but as servant.

Scripture: Mark 8: 31

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

Note: “Son of Man” is Jesus most common title for himself. The reference comes from Daniel 7:13. Jesus is also referred to as the Messiah, the human agent of God who is vindicated by God.

In Mark 8:31 Jesus begins to speak plainly and directly to His disciples about His death and resurrection. He began to prepare them for what was going to happen to Him, telling them three times that He would soon die.

Read the Entire Chapters of the Scriptures Referenced:

Mark Chapter 8

Daniel Chapter 7

Other references Jesus makes to His death:

Mark 9: 31

Mark 10: 33-34

Jesus Came to Save the Lost

Scripture: Luke 15: 28-32

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.  But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Scripture Commentary: I once was lost but now I am found.

In the parable of the prodigal son, it is hard for the older brother to accept his younger brother when he returned. Likewise today, it is just as difficult to accept some friends or family members.

People who repent after leading notoriously sinful lives are often held in suspicion; churches are sometimes unwilling to admit them to membership. Instead we should rejoice like the angels in heaven when one of the lost, the unbeliever, repents and turns to God.

The father forgave because he was filled with love.

The older brother’s resentment rendered him just as lost to the father’s love and his younger brother had been.

Don’t let anything keep you from forgiving others. God’s great love for us reaches out and finds sinners no matter why or how they became lost. He found me; He loves you.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Luke Chapter 15

Jesus, the Light of the World

Scripture: John 8: 12-18

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.  But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.  In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true.  I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Scripture Commentary: Walk in the light.

Jesus said that He is the light of the world. What does it mean to follow Him? As a soldier follows his captain, so we should follow Christ, our commander.

As we follow the advice of a trusted counselor, so we should follow Jesus’s commands to us in Scripture. Additionally, as we follow the laws of our nation, so we should follow the laws of the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus told the truth about Himself.

The Pharisees thought Jesus was either a lunatic or a liar. Jesus offered a third alternative: He was telling the truth. Because most of the Pharisees refused to consider the third alternative, they never recognized Him as Messiah and Lord.

If you seek to know who Jesus is, don’t close any door before looking through it. Only with an open mind will you know the truth that He is Messiah and Lord.

Is Jesus the light of your world? Let Christ into your life and see His light shine on you.

Read the Entire Chapter:

John Chapter 8

Watch and Pray; Jesus Will Return

Scripture: Mark 13: 33-37

Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Scripture Commentary:

We go through life doing what must be done. We pay our bills, buy food, and whatever else we need to do to make it through. But are we so wrapped up in things that we have forgotten God? Watch and pray for Him.

Is the journey we are on leading us away from Jesus?

We go to church, pray, go home, and that’s it. When we leave God’s house, what are we doing next?

Jesus has given us all a task. Are you working at yours? When Jesus returns, what can you say to Our Lord about the task He has given you? Will God find you asleep or doing His work? Are you giving God your best?

Mark chapter 13 tells us how to live while we wait for Jesus’ return. We don’t know the time or the day it will happen. So what are you doing until then?

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 13

Receive the Kingdom of God with Childlike Faith

Scripture: Mark 10: 13-16

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” he took the children in his arms,placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Scripture Commentary:

Jesus was often criticized for spending too much time with the wrong people: children, tax collectors, and sinners. These people needed Him most. Of the children, He said that we needed to be like a child to receive the kingdom of God.

Some, including Jesus’s disciples, thought Jesus should spend more time with important leaders and the devout. They felt this was the way to improve His position and avoid criticism. But Jesus didn’t need to improve His position. He wanted to speak to those who needed Him most.

Jesus revealed Himself to the little children.

Adults are not as trusting as little children. Jesus said that people should believe in Him with a childlike faith. We should not have to understand all of the mysteries of the universe. It should be enough to know that God loves us and provides forgiveness for our sins.

This does not mean that we should be childish and immature, but we should trust God with a child’s simplicity and receptivity.

Read the Entire Chapter:

Mark Chapter 10

Jesus Is More Than Enough

Scripture: Luke 21: 1-4

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Scripture Commentary: Do you give God all you can?

You may think you give all you can but if you really think about it, you can give and do more. When it comes to God taking care of us, He gives us more than we need.

God gives His love, forgiveness, and He is always there for us.

The widow in Luke 21 gave all she had to live on. She did it not knowing from where her next meal would come. She had faith in God.

Let’s be realistic, you are not going to give your last dollar but will you do all and more to help someone to spread the Gospel?

Money is not all you can give to God.

You can give your time. You can give from the gifts He has blessed you with.

The widow’s gift was a sacrifice but she gave it willingly. Are you willing to give?

Read the Entire Chapter:

Luke Chapter 21

Jesus Came to Call Sinners to Him

Sermon (Part Two): And When He Saw Their Faith – Jesus Came Not to Call the Righteous

Mark 2: 17


When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus came for all of us, for we are all sinners in need of repentance. The man in Mark chapter 2 was physically and spiritually sick but he had faith that Jesus could heal him. If he didn’t, then why go through the hardship of getting to Jesus?

We all need Jesus.

Some of us are led to Jesus by friends or family. Or something happens in our life that cause us to turn to Him.

Some are like the man being handed down through an opening in the roof. Some are like Saul on the road to Damascus when Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”* When we go against God, we are persecuting Him.

When I was in the world, I was not of God.

God loved me enough to turn me around and put my life on the road to serve Him. I’ll tell you this: I am happier because I know Jesus loves me. And I know that He loves each of you.

If you are sick, ask Jesus for healing. If you are blind, let Him give you sight. Not the sight that you use to move about, but the sight of His holiness.

Let Jesus open your eyes in the spiritual sense.

Then you will see that what you think is so important isn’t. When you put yourself in Jesus’ hands, you are saying, “God, take me. Guide me. Deliver me. I accept you as my Lord and Savior.”

Read the Entire Chapters Referenced:

Mark Chapter 2

*Acts, Chapter 9

Read Part One of the Sermon, “And When He Saw Their Faith.”