TEXT: JOHN 10:22-30 #2705 CONFIRMATION THEME: "THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND YOU" I. JESUS KNOWS YOU. II. HE CALLS YOU TO FOLLOW HIM. III. HE PROMISES YOU ETERNAL LIFE. Phoenix - 4121113 My dear fellow redeemed, and especially you, Cody, The story is told about a brand new, supersonic jet airplane that was making its first commercial flight, and it was filled with newspaper reporters and television news people. About an hour after takeoff, the captain's voice was heard on the loudspeaker, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be your pilot and the captain of this plane on its first historic flight. We are cruising at the unbelievable altitude of 62,000 feet, traveling at 1,050 mph as planned. Nevertheless," the captain announced, "I do feel that 1have to tell you about an inconvenience that has occurred. The passengers seated on the right side of the plane may be able to see that the closest engine is vibrating, but that shouldn't concern you because there are four engines on tbis plane. If you're looking at that engine right now," he said, "you may also notice that the second engine is glowing.... more precisely, you could say that it's on fire. But that shouldn't worry you either, since there are two more engines on the left side of the plane." "Those of you who are seated on the left side of the plane," the captain continued, "shouldn't worry either if you happened to notice that one engine fell off about ten minutes ago. There is one thing, however, that seems a little more serious," he said. "Along the center aisle, all the way tbru the plane, a crack has appeared. In fact, some of you may be looking tbru that crack right now and seeing the waves of the Atlantic Ocean below. Those of you who have really keen eyesight," he said, "may even see a small life raft that has been dropped from the plane. Well, ladies and gentlemen," the pilot said, "your captain is now speaking to you from that life raft." Ah... yes. There are some things, 1 suppose, about which we shouldn't joke. But when 1 first heard that story, 1 couldn't help but think how descriptive it is of the actual lives of many people. Their "plane is falling apart," so to speak, and they fear their "captain" is as remote from them as the one on that raft in the Atlantic, 62,000 feet below. But how different it is for us who believe in Jesus! The Lord Himself is the Captain of our life and He will never abandon us. He's our Good Shepherd, who is able to protect us from whatever may threaten us. Tbis is what we always need to remember because of the marvelous comfort it brings to us as we go thru life. And tbis is the thought that 1would like to impress upon all of you - and especially you, Cody, our Confrrmand of 2013 - namely, the relationsbip that exists between "THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND YOU." First, we are reminded that I. JESUS KNOWS YOU. II. HE CALLS YOU TO FOLLOW HIM. And finally that III. HE PROMISES YOU ETERNAL LIFE. I. For many of the people back in the earthly days of Jesus, their ''plane of life" was literally "falling apart." You see, He had told them very plainly that He was the Messiah - their long- promised Savior who would rescue them from sin, death, and hell. And the mighty miracles He had performed confirmed that fact. Yet they still stubbornly continued to reject Him as their Savior, and because of their unbelief, they were doomed. They were not "His sheep," the Good Shepherd said. But for you, it's entirely different. By the grace of God and thru the working of the Holy Spirit, you have learned to know who Jesus really is - that He is your Lord and Savior.... that He is your Good Shepherd and that as one of His believers you are now among the sheep of His flock. Of those sheep Jesus says, "I know them .... no one can snatch them out of my hand," v.27&28. Tbis is the comfort you can find because of the relationsbip that exists between the Good Shepherd and you. JESUS KNOWS YOU! He always knows exactly where you are in life and exactly what you need in life, and the assurance He gives you is that "no one can snatch you out of His hand." Tbis doesn't mean, of course, that you enemies won't try to do that. They most certainly will. When you stand before the Lord's altar today and promise to be faithful to Him until the day that you die, the devil will also be saying, " Well, well, well. We'll just see about that!" With his temptations he will try to take you away from the Good Shepherd's flock, and he will use the unbelieving world around you and your sinful nature within you to try to accomplish his purpose. Temptations to forsake the Lord can really play havoc in our Christian lives, and you're going to face temptations like that. You can count on it. You're going to face the temptations of peers who may not know Jesus as their Savior - temptations that will try to lead you to deny Him with your thoughts, words, and actions, and turn you away from His will for your life. You're also going to face the temptations of your own raging, teenage hormones. I know, because - believe it or not - I was a teenager like you at one time too. You're going to face many temptations to put other things in a higher priority than Jesus in your life. But remember, Jesus "knows you." He knows that you're going to be tempted in all these ways and many more, and in His love He has already given you what you need to be victorious in times like that. For one thing, He has given you the privilege of prayer, thru which you can seek and will receive His divine strength whenever you are being tempted. Continue to do this. Pray! Then too, He has given you the truth of His holy Word, thru which you can detect the deceitful lies of the devil. Keep reading it and hearing it and studying it! As your confirmation verse says, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." And finally, He has given you His Holy Supper, thru which He will strengthen and preserve you in your faith so that you can resist the devil and he will have to flee from you. Keep attending it faithfully! Do all of this, Cody, and your ''plane of life" will never "fall apart." Do this and you will always remain a part of the Good Shepherd's flock until the day that you die. Do all of this faithfully and "no one will be able to snatch you out of your Good Shepherd's hand." This is what He assures you. II. Now secondly, the relationship between the Good Shepherd and you also entails something else, and that is, JESUS IS CALLING YOU TO FOLLOW HIM. "My sheep listen to my voice;" He says, "and they follow me," v.27. The Good Shepherd's sheep follow Him, and everyone who follow Jesus thru life is sometimes faced with making tough decisions - decisions to always do what is right, even though everyone else seems to be doing just the opposite. To put it very simply, it's the decision to stand up for and live according to the truths of God's holy Word. But that isn't always the easiest thing to do, is it? - doing what we Xians know to be right in a world that doesn't seem to care much anymore about what's right and what's wrong. A while back, for example, there was a story in Time magazine about a young Christian bank guard over in who had to make one of these tough decisions. During World War II, the tiny country of Switzerland officially maintained a public stance of neutrality, but unofficially it was helping the Nazis by laundering the money and assets they had stolen from the Jews. The world was shocked when this young bank guard named Christoph Meili from the Union Bank of Switzerland reported that bank officials were shredding any evidence of that bank's collusion with the Nazis in order to avoid paying reparations to the Holocaust survivors. For his courage and honesty, young Meili lost his job and was publicly vilified throughout Switzerland. Eventually he emigrated to the , where he found ajob as a hotel doorman in City. What Christoph Meili did took a lot of courage, didn't it? - some real inner fortitude. Many people are content to just "go with the flow" - not make any waves.... right or wrong, don't rock the boat. They close their eyes to wrongdoing. They remain silent when they should be speaking up. They're hesitant to take a stand. They're afraid to confront the crowd and say, "This is wrong!" And yet as followers of Jesus, this is what we must be willing to do. "My sheep listen to my voice" He says, "and they follow me." In another place in His Word He says, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful

I~- generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father's glory with the holy angels." That's the relationship between the Good Shepherd and you. Jesus is calling you to follow Him - to live life like He did.... to listen to His voice as He speaks to you in the Bible... to always stand up for what's right and to carefully avoid everything this is sinful and evil. III. In following Jesus like this, of course, there may be some sacrifices we will have to make, and there may be a price we will have to pay in standing up for our Xian convictions. But in these verses which are now before us, our Savior reminds us that in the end following Him faithfully thru all our life will be well worth any sacrifice we may be asked to make and any price we have to pay along the way. Listen, He says, "My sheep listen to my voice; 1 know them, and they foUow me. I give them eternal life, and they shaU never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand," v.27&28. This is the promise Jesus gives you when you follow Him faithfully. HE GIVES YOU THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE in the kingdom of heaven. This is His free gift to you and to all of us who trust in Him as our Savior. Eternal life is something that we can't earn or buy; and it's definitely not something that we deserve. No, it's the gift our Lord purchased for us - the gift He bought and paid for with His holy life and by shedding precious His blood and dying on the cross of Calvary in order to pay our debt of sin.... the priceless gift that actually becomes our very own when we are led by the Holy Spirit to trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And this, you see, is what makes following Jesus so important and so worthwhile. He, and He alone, gives us the promise of eternal life in heaven when we die.... and He always keeps His promises. This is the assurance we were given in our Scripture lesson for today, where the Apostle John was given a glimpse of heaven and saw that vast multitude who are "before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple....Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. " All of these people are the Good Shepherd's sheep - His believers. They are the ones who followed in His footsteps - the ones who stood their ground in times of testing.... the ones who weren't afraid to make tough decisions and didn't hesitate to sacrifice for their Lord or their faith. Now they have what Jesus promised them - everlasting life in absolute perfection.... never ending life, where not a single tear will ever flow. "My sheep listen to my voice;" Jesus says, "I know them, and they follow me. J give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." This is our Savior's promise to you.... and to all of us as well. You know, at one time in the history of Scotland, there were some dreadful battles between Scotland and England, and in one of those battles the Marquis of Huntly was captured by the Scots. His captors demanded that he renounce his loyalty to England's King James, or else he would lose his head on the chopping block. It took the Marquis no time at all to respond. He was ready, and he spoke with a firm voice. "You can take my head from my shoulders," he said, "but you will never take my heart from my king." And that, Cody, is an answer worth remembering. "You can take my head from my shoulders, but you will never take my heart from my king." Jesus is your King. He's your Good Shepherd. He knows you. He calls you to follow Him. And He promises you the gift of eternal life in heaven. Follow Him faithfully, so that you may live and rejoice with Him eternally. As you have said in your motto: "Live as though Christ died yesterday, rose today, and is coming back tomorrow." May God grant you and all of us the grace to always do so.

AMEN