Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel according to John 10. John 10. Verse 11
to 16 says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd. giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the sheep
coming, leaveth the sheep, fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, scattereth
the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I lay down
my life for the sheep, of the sheep I have, which are not of
this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice,
and there shall be one fold. and one shepherd. Now our Lord sets forth in this
glorious passage of scripture the relationship that exists
between himself and his people, his sheep. Now this relationship
truly is a comfort. to everyone that the Lord has
called out of darkness, out of spiritual darkness, because they
truly understand something of who He is and who they are. You know, He refers to His people
as sheep, and they know when they understand what that insinuates. They agree with it. Sheep. I got to reading a little bit
about sheep. And what I found out was this,
and I basically knew it, but I just needed to read it again.
Number one, it says they're just irrational. They just don't seem
to have any sense. Slow to learn. Stubborn. Stubborn. Pronged to strain. Unpredictable. And totally dependent upon another
to guide them. They just don't have any sense. They have no sense at all. All we like sheep have gone astray. And we have turned every one
to his own way. And the Lord Jehovah has laid
on Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the iniquity of us all. I got to thinking, Turn over
to John 17 just a second. John 17. I love this chapter. It's just one of my favorite
chapters. But I was thinking about who
are we? We're God's sheep. In ourselves,
irrational, slow to learn, stubborn, prone to stray, unpredictable,
totally dependent on Him. Who are we? Let's look at John
17 too. Here's who we are. We're His. As thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given Him. Who are we? We're unpredictable
in ourselves. We're stubborn. And I know we
do stray. We're slow to learn. But I'll
tell you this, in my stubbornness in myself, and I readily admit
it, I'm His. I'm a stubborn sheep, but I'm
His sheep. Look at verse 6. The Lord says, I've manifested
Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. Thine
they were, and Thou gavest them Me, and they have kept Thy Word. Only as we are found in the Lord
Jesus Christ have we done that. I know this in myself. I've never done it. But in Him,
we've kept His Word. In Him, we sin not. In Him, we don't stray. In Him,
We're not stubborn. We don't resist. In ourselves,
we do. Not in Him. Look at verse 9. Who are we?
I'll tell you who we are. We're the recipients of His prayer. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me, for they
are Thine. You know, you think about it.
I've asked people. before when people would claim
great universal redemption and universal love of God for every
man, and God so loved the world that He gave. And I told him,
I said, the only reason you say that is because you don't understand
what he said. You don't know what he means when he says, God
so loved the world. He loved the order of man. That's
what it meant. The arrangement. He loved the
order of man. God loved the order of man. He
wasn't going to let mankind perish. But if some say He loves everybody,
God so loved the world, my question would be this, then let me ask
you this. Why would the Lord Jesus Christ not pray for them?
If He loves them all, why wouldn't He pray for them? I pray for
them. Who? Those that You gave me.
Those that You gave me out of the world. That's who I pray
for. I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast
given Me. They are Thine. Who does Christ
pray for? Only. Only. God's elect. Only. Is that too
hard? I don't think so. He said that. Look at verse 12. While I was
with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that
thou gavest me I kept, and none of them is lost but the son of
perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Who are
we? We know what we are in ourselves.
But I'll tell you this, we're His, given to Him, prayed for
by Him, kept by Him. That's who we're for. But as
the good shepherd, oh what comfort that is to a needy sheep. I am
the good shepherd. And you know what? I need the
good shepherd. I need him. Lord, I know, I know. Left to myself, I know what I
do. Oh, thanks be unto Him that has
everlastingly stood as the surety for His people. The One who bears
patiently with my weakness and my frailty and my infirmity. Lord, thank You for Your longsuffering. Thank You for Your kindness.
Thank You according to Your eternal purpose To show mercy to this
sinner. Lord, that you are my shepherd. The good shepherd. Now, I want
us to look for just a few minutes at this precious passage of Scripture,
and you know we'll never exhaust the depth of that, just like
Mark 11 we just looked at. Can you imagine exhausting the
depth of that Scripture? I mean, the Lord, please, just
give us a little inkling of what was set forth there. Lord, teach
us something. I've entitled this, The Good
Shepherd. How would you ever exhaust that? But I do know this
concerning the Good Shepherd. I know that He is the sheep's
sacrifice. I know that. He said in verse
11, I am the Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd giveth His
life for the sheep as their substitute. Not as their example. not to make salvation possible. He absolutely gave His life for
the sheep as their substitute, and He absolutely redeemed them. And all that the Father has given
Him, He redeemed. The Spirit of God is going to
call them out. Salvation is not a possibility. It is a surety. He's the only
shepherd willing and able to give his life for the eternal
good of God's sheep. He's the only shepherd that's
able to exalt and honor God's law, exalt the glory of Almighty
God. He said, I am the good shepherd,
the beautiful. That's what it means. The valuable.
The virtuous shepherd. And I'll tell you, not only in
our sight, and oh how little we see of His beauty, but in
the sight of the Father. I'm the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth His life. The sheep. I love that word.
We look at those ETHs. He giveth. He giveth, giveth
His life. He ever liveth to make intercession
for His sheep. He giveth His life. You know,
we think of the crucifixion, that was just a one-time thing. He giveth His life. He giveth
His life. His life, His life is ever giving. Ever giving. Ever giving. Ever living. To make intercession. Life given to save, protect,
guide, defend. All that the Father eternally
entrusted to Him. His meat, that's what we looked
at a little while ago. His meat, this is my food. This
is my sustenance. This is my life. Having, standing for, redeeming,
keeping, guiding, protecting, speaking for. He giveth His life for the sheep. Ever giving. Always giving. Can
you imagine if He ever stopped? In the last part of verse 15,
he did. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. And here again, don't think of
it as a one time. He did die at Calvary. He was
made sin. He did bear the iniquity of his
people. He bore our sins in his own body,
the Scripture says. He bore our sins. I told you
what that word bore means. He bore our sins. It means pregnant. He bore our sins. Oh somebody,
I said, you tell a woman that's bearing a child. That's not really
part of you. She would probably beg to differ.
He bore our sins in His own body. But I want you to notice and
never forget that. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good
Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. That's that ever-living,
ever-particular redemption of God's sheep alone. The chosen
and the elect of God who receives everlasting, saving benefit from
His life and His death. Think of before the foundation
of the world. That's when the Father saw the
Lamb slain. That's when the Scripture says the Father saw the Lamb
slain from before the foundation of the world. And at that point,
before the foundation of the world, When the earth was void,
without form. When there was nothing here but
God. He ever liveth. He ever liveth. Look at the benefit
of His sheep. Do you see how I just began to
look at the benefit of His sheep before we were ever brought into
existence? He ever liveth. He ever giveth. And the Good Shepherd giveth
His life for the sheep. Verse 18, no man taketh it from
Me. I lay it down on Myself. I have
power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of My Father. I have this power,
this authority. I have authority. His death. Voluntary. Voluntary. Nobody takes my life. I thought
the Romans crucified Him by permission. By permission. Give God's permission. I was reading the other day about
Pilate. Pilate was saying, I don't find any fault
in this man. Rightly so. Rightly so. But that's
God's Christ. That's God's Redeemer. That's
God's Lamb. And Almighty God allowed men
to do exactly what they wanted to do. You crucify Him. You crucify Him. You crucify
Him. God Almighty allowed the wrath
of man to praise Him for the redemption of His sheep. No man taketh from Me. I lay
it down. Totally according to His will.
Totally according to the eternal counsel of God's grace. His death,
resurrection, was according to His own power. I read that and
I think, my Lord and my God. He said, I have power to lay
down my life and I have power to take it back. Now that's power. That's power. When you could
lay down your life and take it back, this is who we deal with. God Almighty. This commandment,
this all-inclusive work of redemption was according to God's will and
God's purpose. This gospel, this commandment
have I received of my Father. So here he is, the sacrificial,
willing sacrificial, shepherd of the sheep. For the transgression
of his people was he stricken. Call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sins. Look at verse 12 and 13. But
he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep
are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth,
and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling
fleeth, because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep."
You know the first thing I noticed there? He was talking about hirelings who
are not shepherds, who seeth whose own the sheep
are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep." There
was a hireling among the sheep. I want you to turn with me to
2 Peter 2. Keep your place right there.
Just turn to 2 Peter. You think, now what's a hireling
doing there? What's a hireling doing there
with the sheep? 2 Peter 2. Verse 1, But there were false
prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. Now, here's the way it is. Almighty God has set forth that
just like there were false prophets among the people, among the Jews,
there will be false teachers, false preachers that will be
found amongst the people of God. Now the way you do them, he said,
try the spirits, whether they be of God. Here's how you'll
know them. They won't come out all at one
time. But in time, they will slowly
but surely begin to deviate. from the absolute straightness
of God's absolute sovereignty. In some way, shape, or form,
they will begin somehow to take away the edge, the truthfulness
of God's grace, God's redemption. They'll take away of the absolute
surety that the Lord Jesus Christ was made sin for His people. And try to tone it down and make
it to where it won't be as offensive. Somehow they'll begin to deviate.
Try the spirits. Watch them. Listen. If they deviate,
if Paul says, if they preach not this doctrine, if they deviate
from it, let them be accursed. Be careful. But there's one other
thing that I looked at, and I'm going to remind you, I've said
this before. One other thing, did you notice there in 2 Peter
2.1? It says, even denying the Lord
that bought them. Now, let me tell you quickly,
and if you want to, you can turn over to Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy
32, and this will explain. I can tell you according to Scripture
that it does not mean bought them by the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not mean the Lord that
purchased them by blood and put away their guilt. Deuteronomy
32, 5 and 6 explains it. They have corrupted themselves Their spot is not the spot of
His children. They are a perverse and crooked
generation. Do ye thus requite the Lord,
O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath
bought thee? Hath He not made thee and established
thee? When it says bought, denying
the Lord that bought them, here's what it means. That owns them. That owns them. Not necessarily
in grace and mercy. But owns them. They're His. All
souls are mine, saith the Lord. He has the right, out of the
same lump, to make one vessel under honor and another vessel
under dishonor. So when it says right there,
even denying the Lord that bought them, don't let somebody tell
you. Say, you see there? See? I told
you. I told you that the Lord paid
for everybody's debt. It didn't mean that. Look it
up. It means He that owns them. They're
His. And He can do whatever He wants
to do with them. He's the potter. We're the clay. He owns all men. So back in John
10, He said, He that is a hireling, And not the shepherd who's owned
the sheep or not. He seeth the wolf coming, leaveth
the sheep, fleeth. The wolf catches them, scattereth
the sheep. The harling fleeth because he's
a harling, careth not for the sheep. A harling has absolutely
no love for the sheep. Has no love for the sheep. No
desire. Lord, help me. that I might preach,
number one, for God's honor and for the good and comfort of God's
people. This is my commission as a pastor. You comfort my people. You comfort my people. Sayeth
the Lord. Comfort them. Comfort them. God's
preachers, they're men, frail creatures of the dust, whose
desire is for the good of God's heritage. The Lord's preachers
follow Him who is the Good Shepherd. They love, obviously not in the
same way. But they love that which He loves. They care for what He cares for. And they comfort those that the
Lord raises up. Their motive is for God's honor. Not for themselves. Not for themselves. Jude 10. Jude. There's just one
chapter in Jude. Jude, verse 10 and 11. The Scripture sets forth. But
these, these hirelings don't love the sheep. They speak evil
of those things which they know not. Isn't that so? Isn't that
true? And we stand and we proclaim
the unsearchable riches of the glory of God. in the face of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we speak of God's election,
His predestination, in particular redemption, the surety of salvation. The spokesmen. They're the spokesmen. God's preachers are voices. They preach what God says. That's it. That's what Brother
Scott was saying. Preachers, they say what God
says. That's it. We don't have anything else to
say. But here the Scripture says they speak evil of those things
which they know not. But what they know naturally
is brute beast, and those things they corrupt themselves, woe
unto them. For they've gone in the way of Cain, ran greedily
after the heir of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsay
of Korah. They're hirelings. They don't
love the sheep. And the Scripture says, back
in John 10, they see the wolf coming. Leave the sheep, fleeeth. Wolf catcheth them, scattereth
the sheep. Howling, fleeing, because he's a hireling, cares
not for the sheep. Brother Henry Mahan said this
concerning the wolf. I thought this was good. He said
the wolf, he said it's trouble and trial, danger of any sort. that is an enemy of God's sheep. A hireling will flee. And here's
how he flees. He does not comfort the sheep
according to God's Word. The preaching of the gospel of
free grace. And it's setting forth when trouble
comes. And I tell you, the best way
for a pastor to learn What it is to have to trust God is to
have to trust God Himself. But what happens is God's pastors
set forth for the comfort of God. They don't leave the sheep.
God keeps them by His power and they continue to preach the gospel
to them, tell them, reminding them of Romans 8.28. All things
work together for good to them that love God. They don't leave
the sheep. The sheep were in trouble. We hurt. We've got problems
and trials and tribulations. Our God's on the throne. I've
said so many times, quote Brother Scott, who's running this show
anyway? Who's in control here? Oh, the whole world is in a... Yeah, you're right. Whole world,
life and wickedness. But who's running this show?
The Highly Pleased. He doesn't know anything about
having to believe God. God's people need to be told
afresh of God's will, God's purpose, God's power, God's keeping. Oh,
the good shepherd. He's the intimate and familiar
shepherd. Look at verse 14, first part
of 15. I'm the good shepherd. I know
my sheep. I'm known of mine as the Father
knoweth me. Even so, know I the Father. Oh, the extent of His knowledge
for us. We can't understand now, but
I know this, He's always known us. Always loved us. We've always
been His. We've always been His delight.
I know my sheep and I'm known of mine. Oh, in the day of our
regeneration, yes, we do know Him. We see through a glass darkly,
but we know Him. We know that He's our life and
peace and comfort. We know that He's our substitute
and Redeemer. He said, as the Father knoweth
me, knows me as the Redeemer, knows me as the obedient Redeemer,
the sheep. I know the Father. I know His
will. I know His purpose. He's the Good Shepherd. As the
Father knoweth me, I know the Father. Oh, that mutual love
and respect and knowledge of union that the Father has with
the Son and the sheep have with them. Here, let's just look at
this one and I'll wrap this up. John 17. Oh, I read this again
and I hear again. I read it this morning and I
thought, How little I know, John 17, 21-23,
that they all may be one as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee. That they also may be one in
us, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me, and the
glory which Thou gavest me I have given them. that they may be
one even as we are one, I in them, thou in me, that they may
be made perfect or mature in one, that the world may know
that thou hast sent me and has loved them as thou hast loved
me. Let me just read that last sentence again. That the world
may know that thou hast sent me and has loved them as thou
hast loved me. I can try. I can think. I can try to be
honorable and say something of the indescribable love that the
Father has for the Son. But that the Father would love
the sheep as He loves the Son? I'm just lost in that thought. Of the sheep, he said, of the
sheep I have, verse 16, which are not of this fold, they
are not of this yard, that yard of Judaism, them also I must
bring, they shall hear my voice. There shall be one fold. There
is going to be one flock. One shepherd, if you remember
when we started this chapter, back in verse 1, He said, He
that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold. Remember,
I gave the illustration that they all understood. It was just
a common area. Just a yard. All different kinds
of flocks in there. All the shepherds would bring
their flocks. In the morning, they'd come back. They'd go into the
sheepfold, into the yard, call theirs, and here comes theirs.
Next one come in, he'd call his. Next one come in, he'd call his.
Till all the sheep were drawn out by their shepherd. Just a
yard. Just a sheepfold. Just a yard. But the Lord said,
other sheep I have. They're mine. By election. They're mine by purchase. And
they will be mine in regeneration by willing consent. Other sheep
I have. They're not of this yard. Them
also must bring. There's not going to be just
a big common area concerning His sheep. They're going to hear
my voice and there's going to be one flock. And everybody in
that flock is His. There's not going to be a lot
of shepherds coming in here. There's going to be one shepherd.
A good shepherd. The shepherd that knows His sheep.
The shepherd that knows his own. The shepherd that loves his own.
The shepherd that bought his own. The shepherd that's going
to have his own. And one of these days, according
to his will, Father, I will. John 17.24. Father, I will that
those that Thou hast given me be with me where I am. that they
may behold my glory, the glory that you gave me as the Redeemer,
as the Good Shepherd, as the surety of the sheep. There is
a man, the God-man, there's a man in glory. There's a man in glory that's
sitting on the throne of God, and he's the Good Shepherd. And
His sheep's going to be with Him. Seated with Him. That's good news. Lord bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.