TEXT: "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."-1 Peter 5:4

The chief Shepherd is Jesus Christ, whose job is to guide Christians, as sheep are guided, making sure they go where he needs them to go and find pasture. He keeps his sheep in the sheepfold to protect them. He enters through the door of the sheepfold to interact with the sheep. The chief Shepherd knows and calls the sheep by name, and the sheep hear his voice, obey, and follow him wherever he leads them. But, a stranger they will not follow because the stranger is a thief. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

All those that came before him were thieves: but his sheep did not follow them. Jesus Christ is the good Shepherd; he gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep, and runs away, and the wolf destroys the sheep. The hired man runs away because he is a hired man, and cares for his life only, and does not care for the lives of the sheep.

However, Jesus Christ, the chief Shepherd, us the good shepherd, who willingly gave his life for the sheep. As the Father knows him, even so he knows the Father: and he laid down his life for the sheep. He has other sheep that is from another fold: the Jewish fold. He shall bring them together with the Christian fold so that they all will be one fold, with Jesus Christ, as the chief Shepherd.

His Father loves him because he laid down his life. And he can take his life back again. No man can take this power from him, that is, the power to die, and to come back to life again. Jesus Christ receives this power from his Father. And he can give this power to his sheep that hear his voice. He gives his sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of his hand nor from his Father's, who is greater than all, John 10:29.

And when Jesus shall come in glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he shall sit upon his throne of glory: and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered unto him. And he shall separate them one from the other, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then he shall say to the sheep, that represent the righteous and obedient ones, come and inherit the kingdom of God. But, to the goats on his left, that represent the wicked and disobedient ones, he shall say, depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:31-46.

The vital question you should ask yourself is, will you be among the sheep, or will you be among the goats? The decision is yours to make. But, I advice you make the right decision to be among the sheep. God bless you!

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

Pastor K. C.