You will turn back with me now
to John chapter 10. The rulers of the Jews, the high priest, the high council,
sometimes called the Sanhedrin, and the various sects of the
Jews, as the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees, They ensued our
Lord everywhere he went. They had somebody from that group
among him everywhere he went. They had no affection for him.
He didn't come up in their ranks. He didn't go to their school.
He didn't take their name. He wouldn't be called a Pharisee.
They were proud of that name, Pharisee. You remember when Paul
said, you think you have whereof to have some confidence in the
flesh? He said, I more. I was a Pharisee. They were proud of that title,
Pharisee. They had no affection for him.
They had no confidence in him. and that they denied outright
on many occasions that he was the promised Messiah. I read
to you earlier what they said of him. He has a devil, he's
a madman. He's a madman. Yet he did things and said things
that they could not explain. They said, this don't sound like
the voice of the devil. The devil don't give the blind
their sight. The devil don't raise the dead.
The devil don't cast out the devil. That don't fit him. In John 9, they were, they wearied
him. They wearied him. He healed the
blind. You remember they took him up on the brow of the hill.
They were gonna throw him off the hill. They were gonna kill
him off that big cliff. And he turned and walked right
through their midst. Passed right through their midst,
is how it's worded, because his time was not yet. Wasn't time
for them to lay hands on him. Wasn't time for him to be turned
over to their will. He passed right through their
midst. And as he passed, there was a man born blind. And he
healed a blind man. While he was passing through
their midst, by divine power, he just walked right, they were
ready to kill him, Winston. This was a lynch mob. They come
up there to kill him. And he walked right through their
midst and they healed a man as he passed by. As he passed by. But they wearied him all through
chapter nine of John. They wearied him over the fact
that he healed the blind man on the Sabbath day. My soul. And here's what he said. For
judgment, I'm come into this world that they which see not
might see. And they which see might be made
blind. John 9, 40. And some of the Pharisees
which were with him heard these words and said unto him, are
we blind? Is that what you're saying, that
we're blind? And Jesus, verse 41, said unto
them, if you were blind, you should have no sin. But now you
say, we see. Therefore your sin remaineth. These ignorant and ungodly men
thought themselves to be shepherds over the flock of God, who were
but wolves in sheep's clothing. Paul tells, he talks about them
over in Romans 2, 19, he said, thou art competent, you're competent
that thou thyself art a guide to the blind, a light of them
which art in darkness. an instructor of the foolish,
a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of
the truth in the law. And it's their ignorant boast
to God that prompted our Lord to give this wonderful parable
about the shepherd and the sheep. They stood before the people
self-declaring that they were shepherds, that they were there
to watch for the sheep. They were concerned with the
sheep. They were concerned of God and called of God to be shepherds. They were pretending to be shepherds. He describes them a little bit
later as hirelings. They were in it for what they
could get. This parable is about the shepherd
and his sheep. Unless you think he just made
this up on the spot, here's what it says in Ezekiel 34, 23. He said, I will set up one shepherd
over them. His flock, one shepherd. And
he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. That was said a long time before
Christ. looked on these Pharisees and
said these things. Now I have several things I want
us to see in this parable this morning, things which are hidden
from those who say they can see. They said, we see, we see just
fine. You saying we're blind? They
said, but you don't see. You don't see. They're hidden
from those who think they can see and they're revealed to those
whose blindness he overcomes. And he begins by telling us where
his sheep are. You ever thought about that when
you read through this parable? He starts by telling you where
the sheep are. The sheep's in the sheepfold. They're in the
sheepfold. The sheepfold The way I understand
it, I just read what historians say, but it was either laid up
out of rock, and it was like a little fort, big enough to
house some sheep, and it was either laid up out of rock, or
it was built out of small trees woven together, and all the way
around created a fence, had one door. One door. The shepherd
brought the sheep to the porter. He received them inside the sheepfold.
And that's where they stay until that shepherd come back for his
sheep. Where are the elect of God? They're
in the sheepfold. In the sheepfold. You and I have been told plainly
in the scriptures that Christ is all. He's all. And he's all in this parable.
He's all. He's the porter. He's the shepherd,
he's the door. Everything in this parable, you
just insert that name Christ. He's all. Before ever there was a creation,
God chose a people in Christ, his beloved son, he is the sheepfold. How'd the sheep get in him? God
put them in him, chose them in him. You know, we talk about
election and I'm afraid we present it in a wrong way to people.
I know they have to have eyes to see and ears to hear. But
we present it in a wrong way when we just make election out
to be this, it's just God choosing a people.
God chose a people. No, scripture never says that. It says he had chose us in Christ. There's a big difference. He
chose us in Christ. It's by way of Christ that we
get in the sheepfold. I'll show you that in a minute
in the scriptures. We have to get in the sheepfold.
How do we get in the sheepfold? God puts you in there. Of God are you in Christ Jesus. Ain't that what the scripture
said? Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. But how do we get in the sheepfold?
God put us there. When did he do that? Before the
world was. Now I'm gonna tell you something.
There's sheep out here in the world. They look just like the
world. They talk just like the world. They act just like the
world. But they're not in the world. They're in the sheepfold.
And things are different concerning the sheep in the sheepfold than
they are in the world. Things a whole lot different
outside that sheepfold. There was wolves, there was thieves,
there was robbers, there was every kind of danger in the world
outside the sheepfold. But those in the sheepfold were
being protected by the porter. Jude said something right at
the beginning of his book, preserved in Jesus Christ. I, my soul. Sanctified by God the Father,
set apart by God the Father. Where'd he put them? In Christ.
Why'd he do that? Preserved, they're preserved. And then in time, Jude said,
they're called. Who's he gonna call? Them in
the sheepfold. Them in the sheepfold. He's the
sheepfold. God's sheep were chosen in Christ
and blessed by this eternal union with all spiritual blessings,
having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of God's will. Now sheep don't know anything
about this until the shepherd calls. They don't know where
they're at. Sheep are sheep. They don't know
they're in a sheepfold. Did you know anything about being
in Christ before he called you? No. No, you're living your life
thinking just like everybody else thought. But it didn't change
the fact that you were in a sheepfold. Didn't change the fact. Oh, God's
restraining grace on his elect. Did you know he created a whole multitude of beings for no other
reason than to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Angels of God. He said their,
T-H-E-I-R, their angels do always stand before your Father. All
he has to do is give them the word and they're gone. They're
gone in a flash. I wonder if in eternity we won't
find out on how many occasions those angels stood between us
and death. We didn't know it, wasn't even
aware of it, but it was so anyway. It was so. His sheep don't know much about
being in the sheepfold, being under the protection and stewardship
of the porter, The life of the sheep in the
sheepfold is a, and it's a lot different from that life outside
the sheepfold. Isn't it? God's restraining grace not taking
place on those in the world, just on those he intends to save. Those sheep never give a thought.
Did you ever give a thought when you was young where that food
come from? I've even listened to my dad
pray and give thanks for the food. Give thanks to God who
gave us the food. I still never had a thought about
it. I just, there's food, here it is, put it down in front of
me, I ate. That's what them sheep did in
the sheepfold. They didn't know where the food
come from. It's food, it was good, they ate it. They didn't
know that they was under the protection of the porter. They
just didn't see any enemies and they laid down and slept. They don't know where the water,
they didn't know that water had to come from a well and be drawn
and put in a vessel and carried in there too. They didn't know
that. There's just water in the trough so they drank it. All his sheep been committed
to the sheepfold. And in that sheepfold, they're
preserved. God, all things, he said, we
know this now. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. We know that now. I look back
now, and I see where that food come from. I see all those things
that I used to just worry myself over, ignorant things, mistakes,
I called them, and this, that, and the next thing. Now I see
those things ordered in God's providence to bring me to this
place and this hour. Why? Because I was in the sheepfold.
In the sheepfold. All his sheep been committed
to the sheepfold. Now watch this. He that entereth
not by the door into the sheepfold. He don't go to the door. Now
our Lord already said why he won't go to the door. Because
he ain't the shepherd. That's why he won't go to the
door. He's going to climb up some other way. He's going to
get up over the rock wall and grab him some sheep. You might
grab those who look like sheep out in this world, you might
gather a huge assembly together. And there are some, even here
around us. Maybe a thousand in a congregation.
I don't know how many they got. But you ain't gonna get one of
his sheep. And even if you try, if you try,
here's what he said, you're a thief and a robber. Only one way that
these sheep got into that sheep pole, and that's by Christ. And
only one way they're coming out, and that's for the shepherd to
come to the door. He gonna have to come to the door. And I'm
gonna tell you something, the porter knows who the shepherd
is, because they're one. And when he comes to the door,
it says the porter opens, he opens the door. How many times
have I heard preachers stand up here and talk about you? They
beg you to open the door, open the door. You can't open no door. You're sheep. Only thing you
know is eat and drink, water around inside the sheep bones.
The shepherd has to come to the door and the porter has to recognize
him as the shepherd. And then he'll open the door.
Why does he open the door? So the shepherd can call his
sheep. That's why the door's open. There's an open door here this
morning. His gospel's being preached. Door's open. Who opened it? The porter. The porter. God's sheep, his elect, his church,
his people, All in the sheepfold, all secure. In the sheepfold,
all provision has been made. And then secondly, I want you
to see this, the door. He that entereth not in by the
door, he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the
sheep. Just one way in, one way out.
He stresses that in this parable. In and out. How'd they get in
the sheepfold? God put them in there. How'd
they get out? God got them out. What is this door? John 10 verse
seven. Then said Jesus unto them again,
barely, barely, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. He's
the door. Only one way chosen sinners might
enter into the sheepfold. That's by way of Christ. He and
he alone has what it takes to satisfy God and yet save sinners. He's the door. As I told you
earlier, election's not God choosing the people to be saved no matter
what, it's God choosing the people to be saved in Christ with the
glory of his name. He said, he that entereth by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep. He said, the thief cometh not
but for to steal and to kill and destroy. He said, I'm come
that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly. John 10 verse 11, I'm the good
shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. This world full of hirelings
pretending to be shepherds. But he tells us in verse 12,
he that is a hireling and not the shepherd who's on the sheep
or not, he sees a wolf coming. Here comes the wolf, he gonna
get the sheep. He gonna get the sheep, here
he comes. What's a hireling gonna do? He gonna run. He gonna run. He fleeth. He lets the wolf catch
him and scatter the sheep. And the hireling fleeth because
he is a hireling. And he careth not for the sheep. He don't care. He don't care. So who and what is the shepherd?
Well, the shepherd owns the sheep. They're his sheep, my sheep. How many times does he say that
in this chapter? My sheep. He has a personal interest in
the sheep. They're committed unto him by
the Father. He entered into it as a covenant surety for them.
They were chosen in him. preserved in him. He's got a
personal interest in the sheep. They're his as a covenant gift.
God gave them to him. He gave me these sheep. That's how I got them. They're his by eternal agreement.
They're his by the purchase of his own blood. And there he is
by willing recognition and obedience to him. My sheep hear my voice. John 10, 14, I'm the good shepherd. He said, and I know my sheep.
And I've known of mine. I know. I know. Think about it. Think about the
glory he's declaring here. Every son of Adam by way of the
fall has no way to ever redeem himself from the judgment of
God. He's got no preservation. He said, cursed is everyone who
continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do it. Everything, everything commanded in the law. If that's
your hope, then you're committed. and you're cursed if you continueth
not from the day you're born to the day you die. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. That's what God, Moses wanted
to see his glory. He said, okay, here's my glory.
I keep mercy for thousands. I've got a people, I preserve
them. But Moses, you better know this, I will by no means clear
the guilty. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. By the deeds of the law, there
should no flake be justified in his sight. Oh, now wait a minute, preacher,
there's a gospel. Yeah, I know, I know that. I'm doing my best
to preach it this morning. But the scripture said the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they're
foolishness to him. They're foolishness to him, neither
can he know them. His mind, the scripture said,
is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. None that understandeth, none
that seeketh after God, no fear of God before their eyes. That's
natural man. That's natural man. But God has
a people he chose in Christ. And he committed them to his
son. And all provision has been made for the sheep and in his
son. He makes provision for them,
secured His affection by putting them into an eternal union with
Him, that they might be holy and without blame before Him
being loved. He secured His affection for
them by way of an eternal union with His Son. He secured their
souls by appointing His Son as their representative and substitute.
He secured their adoption by becoming the firstborn from the
dead. And my friend, there's no hope
of eternal life apart from Christ. He's all. He's all. And like all false religionists,
the Jews, all their hope was in a man, a man. Even their Messiah they looked
for was, they looked for a man. Not a God man, just a man. A
man like David, a man like Moses. A man who would become king and
lead them out of bondage, redeem them, and restore them under
their old former glory. But our Lord said, I know my
sheep and I'm known of mine. Well, how on earth can a natural,
fallen, depraved man know the Shepherd of God? How can they
do that? How can that be? We were no different
than them. We were, by nature, children
of wrath, even as others. How does that natural man, how
does that sheep of God, being under that same curse, how does
he know the Shepherd? Because the shepherd comes to
the door, and the porter opens it, and the shepherd steps in. That's how he knows them. That's
how he knows them. John 10.3, to him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. What's that talking about? That's
talking about an irresistible call. That's what that's talking
about. He ain't talking about some universal plea with men
to make a decision. He's talking about an irresistible
call. You're his sheep. And all his
sheep are gonna be given the ability to hear his voice. And
they'll hear it. They'll hear it. And I'm telling
you, you can preach this gospel because I've done it. with all
sincerity and love, but nobody gonna hear it. Nobody gonna hear
it but his sheep. I don't care, you can put all
your periods and cross all your Ts and do everything you wanna
do, ain't nobody gonna hear his voice until he enables them to
hear. And he's not enabling anybody
that's not his sheep. John 10, 24. Then came the Jews
round about him, and they said to him, how long you make us
to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told
you. I told you. You believe not the works that
I do in my Father's name? I think if I, well maybe I think
shouldn't enter into it, but listen to me. If a man came in
here today, and one of you died, fell out on the floor, laid there
for 20 minutes, couldn't breathe, turned blue. If that man came
over and took you by the hand and raised you up, and you walked
up here and sat down, I think I'd listen to that fellow, wouldn't
you? I'd be interested in what he had to say. Here's a man.
Bedders couldn't hold him. They put him in chains. They
put him in ropes. And he broke them. He was possessed.
Name was Legion. Possessed, lived in the tombs
among the dead. Nobody could tame him, nobody
could do any, they couldn't restrain him, they couldn't do anything
with him. The Lord cast out his demons and he sat there clothed
in his right mind and talked with the Lord. I think I'd listen
to him, wouldn't you? And this is what he's telling
them. This is what he's telling them. The works that I do in
my Father's name, they bear witness to me. They bear witness to me. But you believe not, because
you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. They hear my voice. And I know
them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life.
I wanna stop right there just for a second and I wanna show
you something. In 1 John chapter five, verse
20. I want you to listen to this. 1 John chapter five and verse
20. John said, we know that the Son
of God hath come and hath given to us an understanding that we
may know him that's true. And we're in Him, that is true. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God and this is eternal life. When our Lord
said, I give unto them eternal life. And here's another verse
you might look at. John 17, three. This is life
eternal that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou sent. Now let's go back to our text
in John 10, 28. I give unto them eternal life.
What is that? That's a saving knowledge of
God. How can God save sinners? In his son. In his son. Who does he give this knowledge
to? I give unto them eternal life. Who? His sheep. His sheep. That's what all his sheep hear
in his voice. And this hearing is a gift of
God's sovereign grace. I give unto them eternal life.
I give unto them a saving knowledge of God and his Son, Jesus Christ. And they'll never perish. Neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Where's the sheep?
In his hand. In his hand. My father which
gave them me is greater than all and no man's able to pluck
them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. Oh my soul. You're in God's hand
if you're his sheep. If you're his sheep. Who's the shepherd? He's God. He's God. Oh, I wish we could
get a hold of that. We let everything in the world
defeat us. Uh-uh. You're in his hand. Where's my
security? In his hand. Security ain't being
a sheep. Security's in whose hand the
sheep are. That's the security. Security's
in Christ. It's in Christ. If I doubt, what
do I doubt? I doubt myself. I doubt my sincerity. You ought
to doubt it. What's sincerity? We only see in part. We only
believe in part. I know nothing about perfect
faith. My faith, he describes as a grain
of mustard seed. Smallest seed there, he can't
even hardly see it. That's my faith. But what's my
faith in? My faith's in Christ. He's faithful. He said in one place, I read
it to you, Winston, the other day. He said in this one place,
though they believe not, yet he abides faithful, he cannot
deny himself. The disciples said on one occasion,
we believe. Help thou our unbelief. Were
they saved? Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank God. And then lastly, I
want us to just consider the sheep. Who are his sheep? They're
his elect. I tell you one of the most erroneous
doctrines ever invented by man is universalism. What in the world is that, preacher?
That means God saves everybody, Christ died for everybody, and
God's will is that everybody be saved. That's universalism. And all three of these things
are totally contrary to the scriptures. I'll never forget, I was talking
to my sister one day, And she said to me, she said, I just
cannot believe that a good and loving God would send a man to
hell. And I said, a good and loving
God wouldn't, but a just and righteous God will. An angry
God will. God's not all good and all love. He's also righteous. and just. God's character is made up also
of wrath, of wrath. God's love is not a passion like
man's so-called love. We're plainly told that his love
for us is in Christ Jesus the Lord and that nothing can separate
us from it. Nothing. Oh, one fellow told
me, he said, but a man can separate himself. Not what it says. Not what it says. In order to
cover all the bases, he said, things present are things to
come. That pretty much covers everything, don't it? Shall be able to separate you
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, the Lord. Yet all the proponents of universal
love will readily admit that you can be separated from that
love. Well, that ain't the love of
God. That ain't the love of God. The love of God is particular.
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. What's he declaring
in that verse? He's declaring election. That's
what he's talking about. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. The will of God is particular.
This is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which
he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again
on the last day. And the death of Christ is particular.
He said right here in our text, the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Not for the goats, not for the
wolves, but the sheep, the sheep. In Revelation 20, verse 15, last
judgment, these were his final words, and whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of
fire. Oh, my friend, there is a shepherd,
and he has a sheep. And to these sheep, he gives
a saving knowledge of God, who God is, who God is. How God can save sinners like
me. That's what he shows him. That's
what he shows him. Sheep are manifested as his sheep
when he calls them by an irresistible call and they hear his voice
and they obey it. What does his voice tell them
to do? Follow the shepherd. Lean on the shepherd. Believe
in the shepherd. Rest in the shepherd. Those sheep
go out there at night and they lay down. They ain't in the sheepfold
now. They're outside the sheepfold. But the shepherd's with them
now. Shepherd's with them now. And they can lay down there.
Listen to this. The Lord is my shepherd. You
think David knew something about this parable? The Lord is my
shepherd. What's that mean? I shall not
want. I might crave something, I might
lust after something, but I'm not gonna want for anything.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures. I can just lay down there. Huh? There are serpents out there,
there are wolves. I'm with the shepherd, I can lay down. He
leadeth me beside the still waters. I can go right out there to the
edge and drink. Oh, but that thing floods. Yeah, but the overwhelming
flood ain't gonna get him. He's with the shepherd. All those who are not his sheep,
they manifested by their unbelief and their disobedience to God,
they will not rest in Christ. They will not. You believe not,
he said, because you're not of my sheep. And my prayer is this,
that the Lord who alone can do it, call you by his grace and
reveal his Son in us.