Christ is presented as the shepherd and bishop of our souls, a dual title emphasizing his care and oversight. The sermon draws from 1 Peter 2, highlighting Christ's suffering and example, and from John 10, where Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd who knows his sheep and gives his life for them. The core lesson is that believers, as Christ's sheep, recognize and follow his voice, are protected and nourished by him, and should emulate his sacrificial love. The message concludes by urging believers to live in light of Christ's return, faithfully following his lead as their ultimate shepherd and overseer.
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Tonight I invite you to turn with me to First Peter, Chapter Two. We're continuing in our series on the dual titles of our Lord as found in the Book of Acts and Hebrews, and we're adding this one from Peter, and then a number of them from the Book of the Revelation. Tonight we want to examine this one as found in First Peter, Chapter Two. And we begin our reading at verse twenty one. Peter writing to the saints, he says, For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps.
Who did no sin, neither was Gile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not. but committed himself to him that judgeth righteousness, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your soul. So there you see in the final verse the dual title. He is the shepherd and bishop.
of our souls. Now, do keep in mind the gospel meeting. I enjoy the ministry of Brother David Morris. I'm looking forward to his ministry with us beginning next Lord's Day morning at eleven o'clock, and again next Sunday night, and then every night of the week. And with a card there, I hope that you take some, give them out to your friends, and Bring them along to the meeting to hear the word of God. Now let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these dual titles that explain who our Lord Jesus Christ is, what his mighty ministry is on our behalf, and what our relationship is to him because of this great ministry that is his.
as the mediator between God and man, and as the Redeemer, who exalted thy holy throne, and who saves his people in a glorious manner. Our Father, meet with us tonight. Give us something from yourself. Speak to our hearts. And as we contemplate next Lord's day with our brother David Morris, prepare all our hearts. and prepare the hearts of those who need to hear the gospel, whom you will call to yourself in a saving way, and we'll thank you for what you do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. Now this is a third time that we're examining the dual titles of our Lord. Let me just briefly mention what we've already gone over. In Acts chapter two. On the day of Pentecost, Peter, in his great sermon, he gave our Lord a dual title. He said, God hath made him whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ. It is this dual title of our Lord as Lord and Christ that lays the foundation for every other title that is found in the New Testament. The Lordship of Jesus Christ is the foundational truth of the gospel.
The word of God says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For you see, what is linked with the gospel is this. Man said Jesus Christ has no right to live. God says he is Lord in Christ. and I'm demonstrating it by raising him from the dead. So what God did in the resurrection of Christ, he totally reversed the decision of man, and he raised our Lord from the dead. And he has exalted him at his own right hand.
And I believe in lordship salvation. I believe that when a person is saved, they bow the knee to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Then we also looked at the dual title of our Lord in the fifth of Acts, where Peter says, he's a prince and a savior. Oh, what a title that is. He is a prince and a savior. And then from the book of Hebrews chapter three, and verse one, we are told to consider the apostle and high priest of our confession. So there are the three dual titles of our Lord.
Now from the scripture reading tonight, we find that our Lord is the shepherd and the bishop of our soul. The imagery of our Lord as a shepherd is very familiar to every person who reads the Bible. The most read portion of the Bible, I believe, is Psalm twenty three. And Psalm twenty three tells us what the sheep Think of the shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not walk. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Ye do I walk to the valley of the shadow of death. I shall fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou prepareest a table before me in the presence of my an enemy. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now that's what the sheep think of the shepherd. When our Lord was here in the flesh, he gave a great discourse in John chapter ten. And that tells us what the shepherd thinks of the sheep. What the sheep think of the shepherd is one thing, but all what the shepherd thinks of the sheep.
He says, My sheep, hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And before in the chapter he said, My sheep, know not the voice of strangers. My sheep obey me. This is what our Lord says about the sheep. in that great discourse. This is one of the most affectionate and affecting titles of our Lord in the Word of God. It appeals to children from their earliest years and it comforts saints in their dying hour.
The Lord is my shepherd. He is the shepherd and the bishop of our souls. Now let us look at, first of all, the title shepherd. for it is used first. You'll notice according to verse twenty-one, it is used in connection with the believer's calling. Now when we talk about the call of the believer, he says, For even hereunto were ye called. We're thinking about the call of God for salvation. When God calls us into the fellowship of his dear son, and he savingly makes us his own.
Even hereunto were he called. To what were we called? Well, we were called to obedience and patience and endurance, as is known in the previous verse, and that we should endure affliction patiently. That's the thought. But we were called what? Christ suffered for us. We should not avoid suffering as the children of God. But I don't believe in going around with a suffering complex looking for persecution. I don't believe in that either. But nevertheless, when it comes, when it comes to the child of God, Peter tells us that we should manifest the fact that we belong to him who suffered far more than we will ever have to suffer.
For even hereunto were ye called, and the call of the child of God is a call of salvation that manifests itself in a new birth. You have the call of God very emphatically taught in Romans eight and in first Corinthians chapter one. Now, when you think of the call of God, what is a person called? They call for two reasons. because of danger and because of distance. And both of those things were true in our lives, for the Word of God says that we were lost. And our Lord told three parables in Luke fifteen, the parable of the lost sheep.
The sheep was lost, it had wandered from the fold. And the believer is seen as a sheep there in Luke fifteen. He's lost, and the sheep had to be sought. and God seeks sinners. He seeks us. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke chapter nineteen verse ten. And just as the shepherd sought the sheep, he restored the sheep to the foal. God seeks us and he saves us and he restores us to fellowship with himself.
Now For this call, the good shepherd bore our sins in his own body on the tree. In John chapter ten and verse nine, in the great discourse of the Lord as a good shepherd, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd give us his life for the sheep. And in that hymn that speaks of the ninety and nine that deals with the parable in Luke fifteen I like the middle stanza of that hymn it says but none of the ransom never knew how deep were the waters crossed or how dark the night that the Lord passed through when he found the sheep that was lost and you see that period on the cross on Calvary's Hill when darkness fell and when he experienced being cut off from God the Father, how dark that night we can never enter in.
But thank God he did it for us. Now the apostle here, the apostle Peter, in our context that speaks of our Lord as a shepherd and bishop of our souls, he takes his message from the Old Testament especially that great passage in Isaiah chapter fifty-three. Isaiah fifty-three is what scholars have called the golden passion of the Old Testament. For it speaks so vividly of our Savior's suffering, his death, his resurrection, and the various aspects of it.
So when we read in the New Testament, I declare unto you the gospel how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He has reference to the Scriptures there in particular, Isaiah chapter sixty-three. You see, the shepherd of Israel fulfilled and will fulfill all that he's spoken of in Isaiah fifty-three. The Ethiopian eunuch that we read about in Acts eight, he was sitting in his chariot He was reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and he was reading the place he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers and dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
And Philip joined himself to the chariot, and he said to him, Do you understand what you're reading? And he said, How can I accept some man should guide me? And Philip joined him, and he began at that same scripture. Isaiah fifty three and verse seven I think it is Isaiah fifty three seven and he spoke unto him Jesus the shepherd he's the shepherd who gave his life for the sheep now Peter was there that day that our Lord gave that memorable address the discourse on the good shepherd And I think we should read it tonight.
John chapter ten. Let us just point out a few things. I briefly mentioned it a moment ago. But I want you to notice John ten for its very importance. John chapter ten is based upon the event of John chapter nine. In John chapter nine, our Lord heals the blind man. The man who had been blind from birth, he was over forty years old. So can you imagine anyone being blind for forty years?
My daughter works in the Duke Eye Clinic. This afternoon as we were sitting around the table, she was talking about some of the problems that they face and some of the problems that are faced today by people who wear contact lenses and don't take the proper care that they should and the problems that develop. And she said, you'll never know how important sight is until you lose it. Here's a man who never saw. He was blind. Our Lord healed him. And of course the Pharisees were angry because our Lord healed a man.
And when our Lord healed him, that man was cast out of the synagogue by the Pharisees. Our Lord finds him and he blesses him. But then our Lord follows with his great discourse on the good shepherd. I'll tell you why. Our Lord found one of his sheep in John nine. And the care that he has for the sheep is now manifested in John ten. Verse one. Verily, verily, I stand to you. He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way the same as a thief and a robber.
Now the sheepfold, friends, is not the church. Nobody can climb up into the church. The sheepfold here is the Old Covenant people of Israel. And our Lord came as a good shepherd in the proper way. He came manifesting all the credentials that the Old Testament said the Messiah of Israel would possess. And verse two says, but he that entereth him by the door is the shepherd of the sheep and to him the porter openeth and John the Baptist the porter open the door for our blessed Lord into the sheepfold of Israel as Israel's Messiah and as Israel's Lord but not notice I love verse three and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name and lead us them out.
Now, that is a verse that you should think about a lot. If your name was in today's newspaper, I know one thing about you. You looked for it. If you knew it were in today's newspaper, you'd be looking to see what the newspaper said about your name. You see, your name is important to you. But my name is important to someone else. He calls his own sheep by name. Are you one of his sheep? See, he said, my sheep hear my voice.
He calls his own sheep by name. Now let me give you an illustration of this from the Word of God. Remember Resurrection Morning? Larry Magdalene was one of his sheep. She was at the open tomb. And she thought the Lord, she didn't know the Lord had arisen. And she thought that this stranger that was there was a gardener. And she said, if you have borne him hence, tell me where you've laid him. I'll take him away. And the Lord Jesus said, Mary. And as one of his sheep, she responded immediately. She knew who it was.
The sheep of God know the shepherd's voice. Oh, when I was a young believer, we used to sing that hymn, Oh, I love to hear his voice, saying, You belong to me. You are not your own, but a price you're bought, and you're mine eternally, the shepherd. You see, the sheep know the voice of the shepherd. Here's one of the ways that you know that you're truly born of God. You know the shepherd's voice. You know where you hear it, don't you? In the words, You hear the shepherd's voice in the word, and the Spirit takes the word of God and blesses it to your soul.
But now notice what else he says about his sheep. Verse four, And when he put forth his sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. There it is again. For the stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. And you see, this is one of the texts in the Word of God that bothers me today. They're believers, people today who profess to be believers, but they listen to every voice except the voice of the shepherds. And I have difficulties. I have difficulties with that.
It seems the voice of the world and other voices get their attention. More than the voice of the shepherd. Our Lord says, A stranger they will not follow. They will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. He didn't say he's the door of the sheepfold. Now he says, I'm the door of the sheep.
I'm the one that the sheep listen to. You kicked out the blind man out of your sheepfold, but I brought him in with a sheep. I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. You see, the blind man didn't listen to the Pharisees, but he listened to the voice of the shepherd. You get the drift here? He listened to the voice of the shepherd. And then he adds, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved.
We go in for salvation and shall go in and out and find pasture. And we go off to serve him and to tell others about him. Verse ten, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill him to destroy. I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now notice verse seventeen. Therefore does my father love me because I laid on my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment was given unto me, or this commandment have I received of my Father. You see, what a passage. He's the shepherd of the sheep. Peter says, you have returned to the shepherd and the bishop. of your soul now in chapter five of first Peter just over a little bit from where we have read in verse four he speaks of him in John ten he's a good shepherd in first Peter five he's a chief shepherd and when the chief shepherd shall appear he shall receive a crown of glory that fatheth not away And in Hebrews chapter thirteen verse twenty, he's the good shepherd.
Nah, the God of, he's the great shepherd, excuse me. Nah, the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That passage there in Hebrews thirteen is one of the great doxologies of the New Testament. When I was a child, I heard that every night. I never went to bed without going over that portion of the Word of God. For we all prayed at our house. I was the youngest, so I prayed first, and then I could sleep, you see.
And I sort of was geared into when Dad would finish, and we'd all together as a family. We'd pray this topology, and now the God of peace. who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever amen every night we prayed that but notice in John ten he's the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep.
In First Peter chapter five, he's a chief shepherd who comes to the sheep. But between John ten and First Peter five is Hebrews thirteen. He's a great shepherd who cares for the sheep. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Well, we better move on. We have a dual title. He's not only the shepherd, but he's the bishop of our souls. Now, in the New Testament, the word that is translated elder, First Timothy three, is episcopate.
It is the bishop. And that is the word bishop. It is the word episcopate. And this is the only place in the New Testament that the word bishop is used of Christ. And you'll notice the word bishop has a very close relation to that of shepherd. Because another word for bishop in the New Testament is shepherd. The shepherd, the elder, the overseer. And that's what the word elder means. It means an overseer. An overseer, one who oversees. So while it has a close distinction with a shepherd or a close relationship to the shepherd, there is a distinction between them.
As shepherds, the idea is that of vicarious sacrifice, substitutionary atonement, the innocent one taking the place of the guilty, the shepherd giving his life for the sheep. Now, the sheep need to be saved. So the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Now, in the discourse in John ten that we read, this becomes very clear. And the emphasis is on this aspect of our Lord's work. But the expression, Bishop, it carries this idea a bit further.
You see, having brought the sheep into the fold, Having brought us in by his redemptive work, he now cares for us. And the work of a shepherd, the work of an elder in a local testimony, is to care for the sheep. Now, how does he do? What does the bishop do? Well, number one, he feeds the sheep. And that's exactly what Peter says in First Peter chapter five. Turn over to First Peter chapter five. Notice verse one.
First Peter chapter five verse one. Dealing with it. The elders which are among you I exhort. Who am also an elder. And a witness of the sufferings of Christ. And also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. See the flock of God. a person who has the oversight in a local testimony, an elder. According to First Timothy chapter three, he must be able to teach. And God expects a man who is an elder in a local testimony to feed the saints of God. He expects him to feed the flock of God.
Now, not only does he feed the flock of God, but he protects the flock of God when assailed. For in both Timothy and in Titus, where you have the qualifications of elders, especially in Titus, it tells us that the elder must be able to teach and exhort so that any gainsayers might be convinced by the word of God. In other words, he must know the word of God so that if anybody brings false doctrine. It will not be taught. It will be refuted and put to silence.
You see, the flock of God has to be protected. And God expects those who minister the word, not only to feed God's people, but to protect them with the word of God so that they know what the word teaches and they'll stand full and complete with the honor of God on in the evil day. Now, the bishop of our souls, he protects us and he feeds us in the highest spiritual sense. Now, that is what is contained in that Greek word episcopate that is here translated bishop and also in First Peter chapter three.
Now, this is applied foremost to Christ himself. He's the shepherd and the bishop of our souls, but there's an application to us today. And that's why this expression, the shepherd and bishop of our souls, has real meaning to us. Peter exhorts us here in chapter five to feed the flock of God which is among you and don't ward it over God's heritage. That's what he says. Not warding over God's heritage. Oh, I am somebody. You pay attention to me. That's not the New Testament. If you want to be somebody, then you'll be that person's servant.
That's the New Testament. You see. Not warding over God's heritage. In other words, he says, I tell you what you do. You make yourself an example to the flock. I thank God. for the good examples I've had over the years. I can name men who were godly examples and blessings in my life. I think of a dear brother who lived in the Masonic home in Elizabeth Town, Pennsylvania. His name was Eli Hershey. He wasn't a wealthy man, but my, what a testimony for the Lord.
The first time I ever went to Mount Calvary Church, I got there early. This dear old brother, he was then of, I got to really love him the first night. He was about seventy-five years old already. Oh, he says, wouldn't you like to sit with me? I'd sit up in the amen corner. Well, that was right down my alley, because I didn't want to sit in the back. I'd like to sit up near the front. I didn't want anybody to distract me in front of me. I was there to hear the word of God. Well, we got to be the best of friends. Dear old brother Eli Hershey, he's with the Lord many, many years. But what a witness for God.
An example. God says to us who are under shepherds, you see, friends, this idea of authority is very important. No one has any right. to exercise authority who is not under authority. And if we try to exercise authority and don't recognize that we're under authority, we're under authority to the chief shepherd, our Lord Jesus, we have missed it and we will not Crosper spiritually.
You see, the chief shepherd is going to appear. He's coming again. And that's the thought here in First Peter five. But in First Peter chapter two, he says, he's the shepherd and the bishop of your soul. So now he adores the little bishops. I like that expression, by the way. It's You know, when you think of bishop, you get an idea of somebody they. Well, they're little bishops. They're under the authority of the chief shepherd, and he's coming again. And if you want an idea of what that is like, you read the fiftieth Psalm.
In Psalm fifty, God addresses a people whom he loves, And in that Psalm, he speaks of his coming in about the first five verses. And in verse five, he says, gather my saints together unto me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And every one of us who are saved by the grace of God, we have entered into the covenant, the new covenant of God's grace. In the next verse, he says, if you fail to sacrifice to me, I won't tell you about it. I won't tell you about it.
And he said, if I'm hungry, I'll never tell you. Behold, the cattle on a thousand hills are mine. You see, friends, it's only what we do for God out of a free will heart, a heart that has been set free by divine grace that has any meaning. If you have to be pushed to do something, all the good things are gone from it. What do you freely do? What do you do freely? See, God says, I'm not going to reprove you for your lack of sacrifice. I'm not going to do it.
No, he's coming to judge his people. And that's the thought in Psalm chapter. I'm coming to judge my people. You see, My people, they're mine. They made covenant in me by sacrifice. But they're forgetting about me. And that's the thought in the fiftieth psalm. Now here in the first Peter five where he says he exhorts the under shepherds who have a tendency to relax. And it's like A.W. Tozer says he said a preacher and he's writing to preachers. He says a preacher has no right to be lazy. He says they don't have a master near at hand that can be seen.
And the tendency is to goof off. The preacher has no right to goof off while the people in his congregation are working eight hours a day to support him. Boy, that's coming down where the rubber meets the road. And I agree with A.W. Moses. And therefore, we need to keep this before us. See, we're going to give an account one day to the shepherd and the bishop of our soul. Now notice one thing, and we're going to have to stop. He's the shepherd and the bishop of our soul.
And our soul is me, you, those who have entered into relationship with him by the new birth. Now he's coming again. He is coming again. And the coming of the Lord should regulate the whole of our lives as the children of God. The whole of our lives. Do we or are we caring for the soul that God has placed under us? Are we instructing them properly? Feeding themselves?
spiritually, caring for them in this world that is beset by cults and false teachings. You see, in First Peter II, he says, for even hereunto were ye called. Now, what does our calling have to do with all this? Well, are we like Christ when he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he didn't threaten or if he would have if he would have he could have slain everyone in the whole world with one breath of his mouth but he didn't what did he do he laid down his life he gave himself for the blessings of others and especially for us, for we were a sheep going astray.
He died to the sheep. Are you one of his sheep? So important. His sheep know his voice. His sheep don't know the voice of strangers. And it's his voice that is going to cause us to rise to meet him in the air at the coming of the Lord. We'll either hear his voice because we are his sheep and rise, or we won't hear his voice because we're not his sheep, for it's only those in Christ that are going to rise. What is your relationship to the shepherd?
He is the shepherd and he is the bishop, the caretaker of our soul. Oh, tonight. I'm so glad I can say the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Is he yours? Oh, you can make him yours tonight by just simply trusting him as your Lord and Savior. Now let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for this time together tonight. We rejoice in who our Lord Jesus Christ is. And we thank you that he is the shepherd.
He is the bishop of our souls. He is the one who guards us, who feeds us, who protects us under all circumstances and in every trial. Receive our thanks for all that you have provided for us continuously. Help us, O God, to be good examples. and help us to ever be listening for your voice for Jesus' sake. Amen.