#3 - Joby Martin // Silencing the Chaos Within

The thief comes only to steal and kill and to destroy . But I came that they may have life and have it abundantly . I am the good shepherd . The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep .

You see , jesus wants us to know that he is our good shepherd , that we have an enemy , and his vision statement is right here in our Bible , that the only thing that the enemy has come to do is to steal . He's a thief and he only wants to steal and kill and destroy .

But Jesus , the good shepherd , has offered us abundant life , and abundant life does not mean an abundance of stuff , it doesn't mean an abundance of possession . We know this because in the very next verse what he's saying is abundant life is found in him and he is the good shepherd .

But what I find interesting about this text is that Jesus , after establishing that he is the good shepherd . He makes this qualification . He says that my sheep do not listen to the thief and the robbers , but my sheep hear my voice and they follow me .

You see , the matter of the Christian life , the matter of what it means to follow Jesus , is way more than right and wrong . In fact , if you just try to do right and try not to do wrong , it will never be enough to sustain you .

We've got to quit thinking that being a Christian is some sort of moralistic therapeutic deism where we just try to white knuckle the bad things in our life and quit doing them . Right and wrong won't sustain us . It's more than this .

What it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ is that we tune our ear into the voice of the Good Shepherd and we do whatever it is that he tells us to do . And when we do what he tells us to do , it always leads to life , and life abundantly .

And whenever we reject him and we don't do what he tells us to do , it leads to death and destruction every single time . Take that . Take finances . When we treat money like the world says to treat money , I'm telling you it will lead to despair and disappointment . When we are generous and free with our finances , it will lead to life , and life abundantly .

Take whatever category you want . And you say well then , how do I know the voice of the good shepherd ? Well , this one's easy , I'm glad you asked . Is that you know the word of God shepherd ? Well , this one's easy , I'm glad you asked . Is that you know the word of God ? Now , does God speak individually to his people ? Of course he does .

He speaks through the power of the Holy Spirit that he has given us as a gift and as a helper to help us understand the direction that we should go . But God is never going to tell us something individually that would conflict to what he has told us corporately .

The going to tell us something individually that would conflict to what he has told us corporately , that the number one way that we're going to hear the voice of the good shepherd is to read the word of God , that , the word that became flesh , jesus also gave us his revealed word . So maybe some of you are hearing multiple voices .

Right now You're hearing the voice of this world and hopefully , if you turn down the voice of this world and hopefully , if you turn down the noise of this world long enough and tune your ear into the Good Shepherd . You will hear his call in your life .

I implore you to tune your ear into the Good Shepherd and do whatever it is that he tells you to do , because when we do this , we walk away from death and destruction and we walk towards the abundant life . The one thing I need you to do is tune your ear in to whatever Jesus tells you to do , and then do exactly what he says .