Jesus Unfiltered-Follow Series: Every Sheep Needs a Good Shepherd, Part 2 | Chip Ingram

Introduction there are two things that we all need desperately we need protection and we need provision and here's the question who do you look to to protect you and provide the deepest needs in your life whether they're emotional physical or relational today I want to introduce you to a Shepherd that promises to take care of you stay with [Music] me thanks for listening to this edition of living on the edge with Ingram living on the edge as an international teaching and discipleship Ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians today we're wrapping up the second volume of Chip's Jesus unfiltered series with the rest of his message every sheep needs a Shepherd for the past several programs he's taught us how to be a more authentic follower of Jesus so if you've been encouraged by this series take a minute after this message and share it with someone in your life they can do that through the Chip Ingram app or by sending them the free MP3s that you'll find at livingontheedge.org well with that let's join chip as he continues explaining what a good shepherd does we in John chapter Jesus the Good Shepherd 10 finally um the Good Shepherd Reveals His identity as Savior and God and this is this is critical because what he's going to say is I'm not one of many the thieves and the robbers that he's talking about Josephus uh makes this commment he's a Jewish historian of the time and talks about Jesus Jesus and talks about that period of history and and he there's a little hyperbole here but before Jesus the last 50 60 80 years before Jesus he said there were tens of thousands of Messiahs well obviously there weren't really that many but what happened is there were groups and a a a messiah someone would claim I'm the answer follow me we'll take down Rome and listen very carefully because this really hits close to home today these Messiahs would willingly be martyred they didn't care if their followers were killed because they all had the same core theology they believe that they were ushering in a new apocalyptic day and the way that day would come is that you followed him and he would die and you might die but that is going to bring the end of the world how many people have done much reading on Isis start reading they're not a bunch of crazy people who just are bloodthirsty who just want to kill people for no reason it's a very clear Theology and it's not a new theology Isis believes that they're bringing in an apocalyptic age that the end of the world is coming that their role is to kill all infidels which means if you're not Isis you're an Infidel even if you're a moderate Muslim you're an Infidel and so they believe that as they kill these people they're doing a great Act of serving Allah and that it will bring in the ushering of the end of the world and Jesus is saying those false Messiahs that's what they were trying to do and what did it bring killing stealing and death it's what we see today he says I came to bring life and bring it abundantly not not a religion of fear and death and intimidation but a relationship of life and love and forgiveness and Restoration in fact your hurts and your needs and your mess ups and your problems causes Jesus to feel about you the way I felt about my little grandson I so wanted to fix it I so wanted to help him but he couldn't understand well you'll notice there's Jesus Promise two responses to um this good shepherd He makes a promise in verses 28 and 29 he Reveals His identity in verse 30 and then at the very bottom you'll see there's going to be two responses where one group wants to seize him and arrest him and a great many other people instead believe pick up the story at verse 22 then came the Feast of the dedication at Jerusalem was Winter and Jesus was was in the temple walking in Solomon's colonade the Jews gathered around him and said how long are you keep us in suspense if you're the Christ if you're the Messiah just tell us plainly Jesus answered I did tell you but you do not believe me the Miracles I do in my father's name speak of me but you do not believe because you're not my sheep my sheep listen to my voice I know them and they follow me notice here's his offer and it wasn't just for them it's for every person in this room I give them Grant in other words Grace I give them eternal life and they shall never perish no one can snatch them out of my hand my father who has given them to me is greater than all no one can snatch them out of my father's hand and then he makes the statement where they want to kill him again the father and I are one and grammatically here he's not saying one person I mean he's saying one Essence in grammar you have Right male female in Greek you have neuter this is this is grammatically and the father and I are one being or one Essence two people third one is the Holy Spirit and so what's the Jesus Miracles response again the Jews picked up stones to Stone him but Jesus said I've shown you many great miracles from the father for which of these do you Stone me was it when I raised a little girl from the dead was it when I fed the 5,000 was it when the blind man could see how about the lame man by the pool how about when I fed the 4,000 how about the the young man who was in the coffin near the village and I touched the coffin and I mean these are all historical things that happen these are not myths these are not nice Tales these aren't a competing religious salad bar or Diet this is a man who historically lived both inside and outside the Bible and then after he died and rose from the dead it's not like he told two of his special friends and we're supposed to believe them or they had a dream for 40 days SpaceTime history walking in a resurrected body to over 500 eyewitnesses holds up in any court of law that's the Jesus that we're worshiping that's why all of history is AD BC now here's the big question if this whole resurrection and visit by God to the planet was that he could help us restore us love us cleanse us us that that our hurts actually emote compassion from him here's his big request and it's just amazing if you get this it'll radically change your life Jesus wants to be your Shepherd that's the goal he's not trying to sign you up to be you know some rigid Christian he's not trying to sign you up to become some religious fanatic he wants to be your personal Shepherd I want to tell you what you could expect of Jesus if before you walk out these doors you said do you know something everybody trusts something or someone I've got a family of origin I was educated here I've basically thought about life here I've trusted a lot of other people what they've said when I look at the evidence I think the smartest wisest thing to do since he's the only one that's come back from the dead he's the central figure of history and there's all this I think the smartest thing to do was allow him to be my shepherd I'm going to ask him to forgive me come in my life and be my shepherd and then I'm going to start following him I want you to know what it would look like and what he wants to give you okay because this is not how you see God and this is how most people can't Jesus Wants to Be Your Shepherd even dream God would see them Jesus wants to be your Shepherd number one to meet your deepest needs jot that down will you I mean he wants to meet your deepest needs your deepest needs is not just Health it's not finding the right person it's not for your kids to come out right it's not to get a better job it's not to get a second home it's not to remodel your kitchen it's not for your kids to get in the right school I mean th those are fine it's not that you someday some way go public your greatest need is to be deeply loved and accepted to feel significant in who you already are not what you do to have a deep overwhelming sense of security that it is well with your soul and you can handle any circumstance and have a very clear purpose in your life that's your deepest need now what I will tell you is our workaholism and we have to this we have to have that and I got to look a certain way and I got to earn so much money and drive a certain car my kids got to be in the school and I've got if I'm single I got to get married if I'm married I don't like it I got to get single all of that is about what trying to meet these needs of now I'm a somebody I'm significant look at what I have now I've got security I added one more zero to my portfolio now I've got purpose in life I'm going to raise the greatest kids in the world and when they're successful I'll feel like vicariously I've really done something we run our lives like crazy trying to meet needs that only God can meet and what he would say is if you'll let me be your Shepherd then you know what all those things the right time and the right way become tools that I can love you and you can actually have in your hands to help and love other people cuz at the end of the day all of us or at least most of us we have at least enough relationships with people that have all that have been all that and are super successful and ask him is it enough and it never is and so we run around trying to gain what other people who are already there their lives scream I've been through three marriages I've got lots of zeros I have a house here a house here and a house there the most unhappy people I have ever met in my life are people not in abject poverty people who have run it and thought if they had this this this this this and this then and they have it and they can do whatever they want any day of the week and go ever and it's Jesus Wants to Restore Your Soul empty those aren't bad things they just can't deliver life I came that you could have life and have it abundantly second he wants to restore your soul he makes you lie down in Green Pastures he leads you beside Quiet Waters he restores your soul the word Soul we get our word Psychology from it's psyche Su I mean our think of think of what's broken in us our shopping addictions our sexual addictions our alcohol addictions our work addictions our pleasing people addictions our codependency addictions our addiction that everything everyone has to see me a certain way we run around like crazy what what we have is a soul problem we we our Soul's messed up it's warped he says I want to restore it literally the word restore means I want to turn it back and bring it to where it really belongs and notice he says how he does it two ways he goes I'll make you that doesn't sound very fun he says I'll make you what I'll make you sit down or lie down in Green Pastures this is where it's good but see sheep are not all that smart and some sheep are hard-headed they have sort of an Ingram tendency in them that I want to do my own thing and God says no that that right he's going to lead us in Paths of righteousness there's a bad path there's a good path some sheep even from the time their lambs don't listen very well so what a Shepherd would do in that day with the sling they were really good put a rock in it and then about two feet in front of the sheep as it's straying and smart sheep will go oh I think I'm going to get back with the other sheep but some sheep aren't very smart and they just keep wandering and wandering you know what's going to happen they're going to die a Wolf's going to get him and so the shepherd literally it's called The Bell sheet the shepherd on purpose would go over and break the leg of the lamb and then he would set the leg then he would take the lamb and put it on his shoulders and for the next few weeks while that was healing that lamb would be on his shoulders all the time well he heard his voice it built intimacy it built The Bell Sheep connection and then I'm I'm guessing four to six weeks that's what I hear with every broken bone uh he would put a little bell around the sheep and it was called the Bell sheep and because of what happened one the pain the shepherd's love and the pain the intimacy that sheep would never leave the shepherd's side closer than any others so all the other sheep when they hear ding ding ding ding ding there's a Shepherd can I can I just I want to say this gently some of you are going through horrendous times right now in a relationship or in your finances or at work horrendous and there's bitterness and hurt and betrayal and struggle or cancer and God doesn't cause evil because he's good but he uses evil and difficulty and sometimes he does discipline his sheep and you know what so he'll make you lie down in Green Pastures you know that's not a good relationship and wow I lost my job you know I'm spending my money here my time's going here I forgot God o wow this happen sometimes the kindest thing God ever does is bring difficulty into your life cuz when difficult things happen what happens to your attention all of us right I have a kid in ICU I pray differently I lose my job I pray differently I have a friend going through a horrendous time I pray differently I've been a pastor for a little over 30 years and this is what I can tell you it's just personal observation but the people who've been hurt deeply see seem to have the greatest appreciation and intimacy with God and seem to display the characteristics of Christ more fully more brightly and more powerful than other people that I know so God he wants to restore you so sometimes the the difficulty is he he wants to get your attention I mean you're here right I mean some of you if you were like me growing up someone said you want to come to church like I'm what I mean purpose are you kidding you know I had a very warp view of God and I met a lot of Christians who helped me get it to be honest you're listening to living on the edge with Chip Ingram and Chip will be back in just a minute to finish today's talk but quickly I want to remind you that this program is only possible because of the generosity of listeners like you so if you'd like to support us go to livingontheedge.org that's livingontheedge.org o RG and thanks for doing whatever God leads you to do well let's rejoin ship now for the remainder of his message third he wants to guide Paths of Righteousness you and direct your life he guides me in Paths of righteousness for his name's sake like don't we all have personel decisions to make should I marry this person not marry this person good roommate bad roommate should take this job don't take this job hire this person we have Personnel decisions to make don't we have wisdom decisions to make should we uh should I change jobs should I go to this University that University forget universities I'm entrepreneur I should probably you you have decisions to make right do you want to make good decisions that put you on a good path or do you want to make bad decisions or wrong decisions that put you on a bad path okay that was a rhetorical question now now just just for a moment lean back if God is who he says he is all knowing all powerful Eternal all wise knows all things actual and possible and your hurts even your hurts and pains and struggles and mistakes and your sin causes his compassion to well up infinitely more than me for my grandson and he wants to help you and here's the offer I know everything tomorrow next year end of the world I know how you think I know everything about everyone would you like me to give you my counsel on what to do tomorrow on what relationship to get in of or out of on on what school to go to or put your kids in would you like to know where to invest and what to do with your time your energy your money cuz you're my sheep and what do Shepherds do they take care of them why because they love them they don't bail out so you sort of have this option he could be your Shepherd or you could just you know read The Wall Street Journal you know they're right all the time read it on the internet I mean you know that's true right I mean I'm messing with you or you could just say I got it I know what's best for me well look at some of your past decisions I'm honest I mean you know this is the Dr Phil moment how's that working for you and Jesus is saying I want to be your Shepherd I I want to meet your needs I I Want to Meet Your Needs want to restore your soul I want to direct your life I want to protect you from evil even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death this is not talking about dying this is talking about the sheep in the summer in the lowlands the grass starts to dry out you have to take them through these Ravines up into the mountains and the plateaus where the grass is green and so when you do that instead of the big group coming there's these narrow places and there's all it gets dark and they're shadowy well that's where the Wolves take out your sheep and so David is saying I've been in some of those times partly because I got myself in them the basba deal was all me I blew it the murder that was me other times man that guy betrayed me here's the most amazing thing about God whether you mess up your life or someone else messes up your life the moment you come and say I just need help you know what you receive compassion I don't understand it compassion I'll forgive I'll restore I'll reset it I'll make it right and so he says he wants to protect God Wants to Protect You you from evil he it says there's a rod and a staff and it's interesting because the the rod was a power thing it was a like a billy club of a policeman Uh Wood and then it had a big ball at the end and had spikes or nails that would come out of it and sheep you know wolves they would fight with that and then the the the staff was of comfort it was you know the long thing with the hook and sheep's in the Brier you got to pull it out it's in the Ravine you know you help it out or maybe a little nudge to keep him on track and all I can tell you is I I didn't grow up as a follower of Jesus and I remember I was a young Pastor maybe 28 years old coming out to California and this I saw God's power and since I've had multiple things like this and it's not because I'm a pastor it's just I'm a sheep and my shepherd wants to take care of me so I'm on my way to California going to the airport I'm living in Texas young Pastor little tiny church and and I wanted to come learn actually was coming out to this church way back when to learn some stuff and so uh it's Texas so it's super super hot it hasn't rained in a long time and it starts to drizzle and in Texas they call it black ice there's oil that's been there and when it just mixes right it gets literally like black ice and so my friend my buddy and I are driving and all of a sudden I look like 3 400 yards and the cars are spinning I mean it's like a movie they're all spinning I like oh my gosh you know and so you know being the intelligent person I am I slam on the brakes right and so you know you know it's not like it's snowing so I wasn't thinking I mean I'm not and so I slam on the brakes and the brakes lock and I mean we start speeding up I'm going about 60 now I'm going about 70 and all I can tell you is f o r D and it was there and then pretty soon it filled the complete windshield and I I don't know if you've ever had one of these I've had two at least in my life where I thought I didn't think literally the thought was I didn't think this is how I would die the car does this with no one on the steering wheel like this and then shoots through fast through spinning cars I believe in angels I mean it's impossible and then I look back and there's like 25 cars all strewn over and and you know my heart's going God just saved my life now I'm not saying that he does that all the time forever I'm just saying he wanted me to know chip I'm your Shepherd I want to protect you from evil in fact sometimes he doesn't use the rod sometimes it's the staff so a few years ago my wife got cancer and I prayed and she prayed God didn't remove the cancer God doesn't promise he takes us out of the world we went to Stanford every week we hadat treatment after treatment after treatment I didn't know she would live or she'd die but he comforted us and I praise God for smart and great doctors in medicine and technology and I will tell you this this happened in my marriage I you know I thought you know I thought I had a four-speed car and I had no idea that there was a fifth gear that our fifth gear came because I didn't know if I'd have her and there was a level of intimacy and connection that happened after cancer with us and with God that I would never trade because God says even though you go through the valley of the shadow of death my rod and my staff I'm with you do you want a Shepherd like God Wants to Fill Your Life with Joy that the fifth thing he promises he says uh I want to fill your life with joy it's that picture that I shared of you know a big battle's happen and there's the big buffet and it just it this is hard to get because so many people think God's arms are crossing he's down on you and waiting for you to mess up God wants to deliver you from your enemies and he wants you to have a buffet life of joy and and he wants his goodness and his mercy and his kindness to to pursue you you don't have to live with oh the sho's going to drop and what about this I'm sure something bad's going to happen when people live in fear like that you make really dumb decisions and you don't enjoy what you have most people in the world don't enjoy what they have they're always fearful about how they might lose it or what's going to mess up and the final thing he says is just beyond my wildest dreams he says I want to give you eternal life he says I will dwell in the house of the Lord notice Forever This is why he came your hurts your needs your struggles and mine your mess ups did something down deep in if I can use this word into the bowels of God of his compassion and he ordained that on a certain time at a certain day you would walk into a room so he could tell you I love you I want to be your Shepherd but in order for that to happen you must recognize that I'm King that I'm God and that I've forgiven you and you empty Hands of Faith you need to turn away from sin that you know is wrong and ask me to forgive you and I will come into your life on this day forgive your sins and then we will walk together and it won't be easy but it'll be amazing let me pause before we go any further uh this moment right now might be the most important moment of your entire life God is speaking directly to you and Jesus Wants to Be Your Good Shepherd he's offering you eternal life Jesus wants to be your Good Shepherd he wants to forgive you he wants to restore you you he wants to put you on A New Path and then he wants to live inside of you and walk with you all the days of your life and then he wants to prepare a place for you in a very real heaven that you can be with him forever your response will determine whether that becomes a reality or an intellectual fact that you simply became aware of today if you turn from your sin the Bible word is repent you realize I'm on the wrong path what I'm doing how I'm thinking it's not right you turn from it and you lift the empty Hands of Faith and you say God please forgive me I fall short I've sinned I need your forgiveness and today I believe that Jesus death on the cross paid for my sin once and for all and that his resurrection from the dead proved its reality I invite you now to come into my life I receive the gift of Salvation now make make me your son make me your daughter that prayer believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth comes with a promise that you will be made a son or daughter of God by the spirit of God forgiving you and entering your life and uh what a precious time it is do it right now wherever you are in your own words tell God that he'll meet you he'll love you he'll forgive you and afterwards go to the website and we have some information there to help you absolutely free to get on the road to growing in Christ and by the way make sure you tell someone today that you're really respect maybe the greatest Christian you know and just let them know I put my faith in Christ today and I think I need some help thanks chip well if you prayed to receive Christ we do have a free resource we'd like to put in your hands that was specifically created for new Believers now this tool will help you understand what it means to trust in Jesus and what to do next request this free resource by calling 8333 6003 or by visiting livingontheedge.org then clicking on the new Believers button that's livingontheedge.org or call 8333 63 let us help you get started in your faith Journey well Chip's with us in studio still and Chip before we go you wanted to take a quick minute and share some encouragement with our listeners absolutely Dave what I want to share now is really important for those of you who support our ministry in prayer and in your generous Financial giving I just want to say thank you you know when we share the gospel like this I can just tell you statistically it's amazing the powers in the message many many many people come to know Jesus are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light and I just want you to Rejoice with us and I want to thank you for being a part of living on the edge and what God is doing thanks for praying thanks for giving let's keep pressing ahead together thanks jip well if you'd like to join us in spreading the gospel and discipling fellow Believers consider becoming a financial partner today as chip just said your support can have an eternal impact on someone's life to learn more go to livingontheedge.org or call 8333 6003 that's 8333 6003 or visit livingontheedge.org G app listeners tap donate as we close our mission at living on the edge is to help Christians live like Christians and one of the best ways we can continue to do that is through programs like this so when you hear a message or series that helps you pass it on you can easily do that through the Chip Ingram app or by forwarding them the free MP3s you'll find at livingontheedge.org and don't forget to include a note about how it made a difference in your life for chip and the entire team here this is Dave drwy thanking you for listening to this edition of living on the edge and I hope you'll join us next [Music] time thanks so much for watching this video if you'd like to watch more content like this click and subscribe here to our Channel and by the way if you'd like to know more about living on the edge find out about more resources maybe get on the mailing list list go to livingontheedge.org see you next time