The good, great and chief Shepherd

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 30 AUGUST 2026 – PASTOR DENIS LYLE

 

John chapter 10 verse 11

The Lord Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd." The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I want you to take note that he's the good shepherd

 

Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20

“Now the God of priests, the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ, 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 and ever. Amen. So, he's the good shepherd. And now he's referred to as the great shepherd.

 

1 Peter chapter 5 verse one

”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. Feed the flock of God. Isn't that the responsibility of the elder or the pastor? Feed the flock of God which is among you. Taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, so he's the good shepherd, that's my past. He's the great shepherd, that's my present. He's the chief shepherd. That's my future. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory.”

 

Psalm 23 - The key to happiness.

“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

 

No visit to the city of Memphis would be complete without calling to see Graceland, the home of Elvis Aaron Presley. And so while we were there a few years ago preaching in Eastville Baptist Church, we were taken one day to Graceland. The tour of the home and the surrounding area was most informative. Elvis Presley was born in the humblest of circumstances in a two- room house in Tupelo in Mississippi on the 8th of January 1935. He and his parents moved to Memphis in Tennessee in 1948. Elvis was brought up in a Pentecostal church and no doubt he heard the gospel of saving grace. He became the undisputed king of rock and roll. By 1956 he was an international sensation. Globally he has sold over 1 billion records more than any other artist. His American sales earned him gold platinum and multi-platinum awards for 150 albums and singles. And as John and I toured Graceland that day, we saw his home, we saw his piano, we saw his memorabilia, we saw his many cars, his motorbikes, we saw his airplanes, and we even saw his grave. And as we walked away down the avenue from Graceland, we were sad. For as we walked down the avenue, all I could hear John whisper in my ear, "He had it all, but he had nothing. He had it all and yet he had nothing." How different was Clara Tear Williams. She lived in a one room shack with a dirt floor, curtain walls, and an oil lamp. She had a day supply of food in her cupboard. Her money was found in a covered bowl beneath her bed. One day, a friend asked her to pen a poem, and she wrote these words. "All my life, I had a longing for a drink from some clear spring that I hope would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within. Hallelujah, I have found him whom my soul so long as craved. Jesus satisfies my longings through his blood. I now am saved.”

 

Tell me tonight, how many satisfied people do you know? People can have everything this world has to offer and yet not be satisfied. The Bible says, "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied." It's not just money that will satisfy. Nothing will satisfy but the Lord. And yet I believe in Psalm 23 we have the key to happiness. This psalm has been a companion at the fire side, at the bedside, at the graveside. It consists of 118 words, actually only 55 words in the original Hebrew. And yet it sums up all our needs in life and the abundance of God's grace. It begins with the Lord and it ends with forever. What could be better than that? While it consists of 118 words, 116 of those words are devoted to explaining the first two, the Lord. You see, this psalm is all about the Lord. Here is how David faced life. And in writing a psalm, he shows us and he gives us the secret to facing the days that lie ahead. What was David's secret? The man who wrote almost half of the Psalms. What was his secret? His secret was the Lord. His fixation. He was captivated with the Lord. He was able to face life. And all that life threw at him because of the Lord. My friends, 3,000 years have passed since David first sung this song. And yet it is as fresh today as though it were just composed. The relics of David's life lie among the debris of the ages. The harp, the banner that he used to uplift in the name of the Lord, the sword with which he slew the great Goliath, the book of the law which was his meditation all the day long. All these lie among the debris of the ages, but this psalm lives on forever. These words touch us. They inspire us. They comfort us not as an echo from the past but as the voice of a living friend.

 

This psalm is easy to divide. Preachers always love divisions and headings and outlines but this psalm is so easy. Talks about life talks about death talks about eternity. Simple, isn't it? Life, death, eternity.

 

If I were to ask you tonight, what's the secret of a blessed life? I wonder how you would respond. David would say, "The Lord is my shepherd." You see, the heart of the gospel lies in these personal pronouns. There's all the difference in being able to say, "The Lord is a shepherd, the Lord is the shepherd,” and being able to say, "The Lord is my shepherd." Is the Lord Jesus tonight your shepherd? Is he? Do you want to know how you can find out? Well, let me ask you the question. Is the shepherd your Lord? You see, the only way for you and I to be able to say, "The Lord is my shepherd," is for you and I to be able to say, "The shepherd is my Lord." Is the shepherd, the Lord Jesus, your personal Lord and Savior? You see, my friends, the need for this shepherd is obvious. I mean, you know how the Bible describes us? The Bible describes us like this. The Bible says, "All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath led on him the iniquity of us all." Now, you think about a sheep tonight. And when you think about a sheep, you realize that a sheep is not one of the smartest of animals. A sheep is dumb. It really is. I wonder, have you ever gone to a circus and seen a trained sheep? Well, lions are trained and horses are trained and monkeys are trained and elephants are trained. But a sheep, why? Because a sheep is not too smart. You say, "Dennis, hold on. I was the top of my class at school. You misunderstand me." My dear friends, I'm talking tonight in spiritual terms. I wonder tonight, do you look like Nicodemus? Are you intellectually sharp but spiritually dumb? You see, a sheep is dumb. A sheep has no sense of direction. It nibbles. It gets lost. It gets away from the flock. It gets away from the shepherd. Do you realize tonight that you're lost, separated from God because of your sin? Sheep is dumb. Sheep has no sense of direction. Sheep is dependent on the shepherd by nature, my friends. Each of us because of our sin are separated from God. Sin like a barrier or wall rises between us and God. A sense of our guilt makes us afraid of him. A sense of God's holiness keeps us at a distance from him. And the very first question that we need to ask tonight is this. How can I draw an eye to God? How can I be justified? How can I stand in the right before God? How can a sinner like me be reconciled to God? And the Lord Jesus stands before us and he says, "I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." Because tonight, like sheep, we're dumb. or directionless. We're dependent. We need the shepherd. We need the Lord Jesus. I wonder tonight listening to me here or online, my friend. Do you realize your need of Christ? I wonder, have you made the most important discovery of all, the discovery that you're a sinner by nature, by practice, by birth? Have you come to see that Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross dealt with the sin question in its totality and for eternity and through the cross he opened a way back to God? I wonder have you heeded the word of God repented of your sin and trusted Christ as your Saviour.

 

Sir James Simpson was the guy that discovered chloroform. In fact, he made many scientific discoveries throughout his life. And he was asked at the end of his life, “sir, what's the greatest discovery that you've ever made?“ You know what he said? “The greatest discovery that I have ever made was this, that I was a lost, guilty, hell deserving sinner, and that Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners, is my Saviour. I wonder, have you made that discovery? The need for this shepherd is obvious. Ah, but look again the nature of the shepherd is glorious. You see in John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus Christ unlocked the mystery of the 23rd Psalm when he said, "I am the good shepherd." The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now listen, when he said, "I am," he was saying, "I am God." When he said, "I am the good shepherd," he was saying, "I am man." You see, my dear friends, if you're going to be satisfied tonight, three aspects of your life have to be met. The past, the present, the future. And those three aspects of your life can be met tonight in the person of Jesus Christ. You see, he's the good shepherd. He says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." We've often heard of sheep dying for the shepherd, but we're less likely to hear of the shepherd dying for the sheep. And yet is that not what the Lord Jesus did? Do you realize tonight that Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, the one who was eternally God, equally God, essentially God? Do you realize tonight that he died for you? Do you realize that he died taking upon himself the punishment for all that is sinful in my life? “He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary, suffered and died alone.” Now when Christ died as the good shepherd, he was taking the penalty of our sins – “for the wages of sin is death.” That's what Christ paid. And my friend tonight, your sin will be pardoned in Christ or punished in hell, but it will never be overlooked. Unless you have a good shepherd who died for your sin, you'll never escape the wrath of a righteous God. But listen tonight, he's not only the good shepherd, he's the great shepherd. The Bible says, "Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead." As the good shepherd, he died for us. But as the great shepherd, he rose from the dead for us. I mean tonight, what good is a dead shepherd? Christ died for our sins. He carried them to the cross. He took care of the penalty of sin. Ah, but when he rose from the dead, he takes care of the power of sin in my life. I wonder are you here tonight and you're maybe hesitant about trusting the Lord. Maybe you're fearful tonight. You would say, “Dennis, well, I would love to become a Christian and I would love to become a follower of the lamb, but I just couldn't keep it.” My friends, he does the keeping. He saves me and he keeps me. He's the good shepherd. That's my past dealt with. He's the great shepherd. That's my present dealt with. Ah, but look again. He's the chief shepherd. Peter says, "And when the chief shepherd shall appear." You see, my dear friends, the great shepherd and he had to be great to do it. Christ died for us as the good shepherd and he had to be good to do it. He died for us as the great shepherd. And he had to be great to do it. He rose for us. But as the chief shepherd, one of these days, he's coming to the air to take from the world his own. He's going to take us out from the very presence of sin itself. Think of it tonight. The good shepherd, that's the penalty of sin dealt with. The great shepherd, that's the power of sin dealt with. The chief shepherd, that's the presence of sin dealt with. Ever wonder what the world is coming to? Economic instability, political uncertainty, social disorder, natural and evil. What is this world coming to? Is a question that's on many minds tonight. Maybe the question that we should be asking is this. ‘What is coming to the world?’ For it is the growing conviction of many that the countdown to apocalypse has already begun. But listen tonight, if you're saved, you needn't fear. For Christ is coming one of these days to take us out from the presence of sin itself. Now that's life.

 

But look at death for a moment. The secret of a happy death is realizing the presence of the shepherd. Ah, David is coming to deal with a reality now. He says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me."

 

John McNeill was a great Scottish preacher. And during his early teens, he was a ticket clerk at a train station. He used to work late on a Saturday night to 12. And there was a seven mile stretch between the train station and his home. And between that stretch there was a place known as the valley of the shadow. And one night John wanted to be home for the Lord's day. He started out on that seven mile stretch. And when he got to this place that was known as the valley of the shadow, his feet couldn't hardly hit the ground. He was flying. The adrenaline was flowing. He was scared as he was running into the darkness. Out of the darkness of the night, there came a voice that shouted, "Is that you, John?" And out of the darkness came his dad. And with his father's hand upon his shoulder and his father's footfall hitting the ground beside him, John feared no evil because all that made home was with him. One of these days, dear friends, you and I are going to walk through this valley if the Lord does not come. But David says, "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." Now, even as Christians, we don't like to discuss death, but we need to learn to deal with death.

 

Almost every week when our grandchildren were a lot smaller, I used to take them down into Moira Parish Church to the graveyard. And when the little ones were smaller, they would say, "Well, what are these granddad and what's this?" You know what they're like? They're full of questions when they're young. And I would say, "Well, these are graves." And people who die are buried there. And I would say, "Look at that grave. It's got an inscription on it. It's got a scripture verse upon it. And that person that died there, they must have been a Christian.” And you say to me, " How awful filling a child's mind with such things." No, it's good to have those thoughts. We're not trying to scare our children, but we want them to understand the reality of life and death and eternity. And when we're caused to think about death, God uses that to stress to us the brevity of life and what we should be doing with our lives. Death is a fact we need to accept. Do you notice how David begins verse four? He says, "Yea" He doesn't say ‘nay.’ He wants us to see the death is a reality. If the Lord Jesus doesn't come soon, each of us in this building, we're going to go through the door of death. Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes, “to everything, there's a season, a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die. Just as surely as there's a time to be born, so the Bible says there's a time to die. We cannot escape it. Death. It's actual. You see what David says?  It's a reality. We speak of statistics tonight and I could give you a lot of statistics about death, but let me just give you one. One out of one die. Did you get that? One out of one die. Death is actual. And then it's individual. David says, "Yea, though I walk, not they walk." You know when a preacher starts talking about death, do you know what happens in the human mind? They say that mind says yes tell them about death preacher tell them about death. But my friends what we must realize this is this I must I may be the next one to die. It's actual but it's individual. It's personal and but it's something else. It's not only actual. It's not only individual. It's problematical. The problem with death is this. That you and I doesn't know when it's going to happen. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” David was talking about a valley here. It probably was the one he kept that brings you down from Jerusalem to Jericho. And David the shepherd is going through that valley with his sheep. And he doesn't know from one moment to the next moment what is going to happen. You see, for David, for us, we live at a step at a time. It was David himself that said, "There is but a step between me and death." The old man, the young mother, the little child may drop its t toys to grapple with the iron strength of death. I must preach as a dying man to a dying man and woman. I don't know, my friends. This may be the last message that I'll ever preach, but this may be the last message that you will ever hear. You remember James's words. He says, "What is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little while and then vanishes away." We count our birthdays. We count our years at every birthday. But God tells us not to number our years. He tells us to number our days. After all, we live at a day time. And they rush by so quickly the older we go. Have you ever thought about death? Have you ever thought about your death?

 

Let me tell you how Gandhi, the man who led India to independence, faced death.  Some 15 years before his death, he wrote in his journal. “I must tell you that all in all humility that Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul and fills my whole being.” However, just before his death, he wrote, "My days are numbered. For the first time in 50 years, I find myself in the slock of despond. All around me is darkness. I'm praying for light." What a contrast to the American preacher DL Moody.  As his loved ones gathered around his deathbed he caught a glimpse of the coming glory and he said, "Earth is receding. Heaven is opening. God is calling. I must go. This is my coronation day. This is my triumph." How will you face death? Saved or lost without Christ? Moving towards heaven or moving towards hell. I said this psalm is all about life. It's all about death.

 

Ah but David goes a step further. It's all about eternity. Eternity. He says, "Surely goodness and mercy like two sheep dogs follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." David's thinking about heaven. He's thinking about the tabernacle of the house of God- “the dwelling of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God. Here David's moving from the sphere of the temporal and he's moving into the sphere of the eternal. Three vital questions confront us all tonight. They're very simple. Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? Can I just remind you tonight there is an eternity? While the word eternity appears only once in the Bible, the concept of eternity appears time and time again. Eternity is an attribute. It's a perfection of God. God's existence is without beginning. It's without ending. You remember what the psalmist says. He says, "From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Paul says, "The things which are seen are temporal." The things that I see with my visible eye, the river, the flowers, the buildings, the house, they're temporal. But the things which are not seen, God, Christ, heaven, hell are eternal. You see that great unseen state of existence which lies beyond the grave is forever. It doesn't matter in the sense well it does but for a moment it doesn't matter whether it's joy or bliss whether it's heaven or hell whether it's pleasure or pain in one sense it's completely unlike this world it is forever there in the great eternity there's no change there's no decay there's no annihilation there's no alteration. Whatever is beyond the grave is eternal it's everlasting. The great American and preacher cried out. “I stand on the shores of time and cry out, "Eternity! Eternity! How long art thou?" When 10,000 times, 10,000 years are passed, eternity will have just begun. Look ahead tonight. How long have you got? One year, 5 years, 10 years, 50 years? Then what? Those years will soon be over. Then eternity. Do you recognize that there is an eternity? Do you realize that the things that are seen are only temporal and you're moving into a sphere that's eternal? There is an eternity. May I remind you tonight that you, like David, must spend eternity somewhere. You must, for the time will never come when you will cease to be. You will be somewhere throughout the endless cycles of eternity. As death leaves me, judgment will find me. Moreover, my friend, you have a soul tonight. I wonder, have you counted the cost if your soul should be lost? One day the body will die. You'll put it in a grave. It will decay. Ah, but the soul made in the image of God will live for eternity. That's why the Lord Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" My friend, tonight you have a soul that's precious, a soul that's eternal, a soul that's immortal, a soul that will exist in bliss or woe in paradise or perdition or heaven or hell. Tell me this. What are you doing with the soul that God's given to you? Are you preparing that soul for the great eternity? Have you come to the cross? Has that soul been washed in the blood of the lamb? There is an eternity. You will spend eternity somewhere. Where you spend eternity will be in heaven or hell. Christ said, "And you shall seek me and die in your sins, and whether I go, you cannot come." He says, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.” And where you spend eternity will be determined by what you do with Jesus Christ. Think of what Christ said. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Eternity. If you accept Christ as your Saviour, you'll spend eternity with him. If you reject Christ as your Saviour, you'll spend eternity without him. Life, death, eternity. Let me just pause for a moment. Think of what eternity is going to be for us as the Christians. Think of the knowledge that we'll have there. Paul says, "Now we know in part, but then shall we know, even as also we are known." The tangled network of life will be unravelled. And I bless the heart that planned and the hand that guided. Think of the knowledge that we're going to have there. Think of the friends that we're going to see there. One of the first persons that I want to see in glory apart from Christ is my dad. How he prayed for me when I was in the in the far country. How he sought God for me. I just want to see him again. But think of the Saviour that we'll see there. What a moment it will be when faith will give way to sight. And we shall see him as he is.

 

Life, death, eternity, the key to happiness.

 

One time a little girl was called in Sunday school to quote the 23rd Psalm. She got up and said this, "The Lord is my shepherd. I've got all I want. I've got all I want. That's the key to happiness. Not the things that he gives us, not the blessings that he bestows upon us. My dear friends, it is the Lord himself who is the secret of satisfaction. Jehovah, Jesus, is my shepherd. I've got all I want. Let me ask you in closing tonight, is the Lord Jesus your shepherd? Years ago, a preacher was out on the highlands of Scotland and he came across a Scottish lad, a little shepherd boy, and sitting down beside him, he asked him, "Did he know the 23rd Psalm?" The wee boy says, "Of course I do." The preacher said, "Well, what's the opening verse?” “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” The preachers said, "Not so quickly. Let's take it off like this. Let's take it off on your left hand. The Lord is my shepherd." And he paused and he said to the wee boy, "Is the Lord Jesus your Saviour? Is he your shepherd?" And that preacher explained to that little Scottish shepherd boy the way of salvation. And before he left, he trusted Christ. And before he left, with his right hand, he was grasping the fourth finger of his left hand. Christ had become his personal shepherd. The following winter, there was a severe storm. One day the sheep and the shepherd didn't come home and the search party was sent out and they began to dig the sheep out from the snow. And then they came across the wee boy, the little body of this wee shepherd boy. And there they saw him with peace on his face and with his right hand he was grasping the fourth finger of his left hand. Such was his last thought. Do you see how David commences the psalm with the Lord? Do you see how David concludes the psalm with the Lord? Tell me tonight, do you know him? I'm not asking you tonight, are you a Baptist, an independent Methodist, whatever denomination you are tonight, you could be all of those and die and go to hell. I'm asking you tonight, do you know Christ? Can we truthfully say, "The Lord is my shepherd and I will dwell. Surely I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."