The one that has satisfied God's
law. He is the obedient son who calls
his sheep out of the darkness of unbelief. It is his voice
that the sheep hear in regenerating grace and the one who alone leads
them out of the darkness of unbelief. Bless His holy name. Now today,
I would like for us to continue where we left off last time.
Last time we looked at verses 1 to 3. And I think that seeing
the significance of what that sheep fold really is the world
in which the Lord Jesus Christ came into lawfully. Remember, you and I were born
in this yard by sin, in sin, dead. He came into this yard
as sheepfold. How did he do it? He made himself
answerable to the same law that his sheep were under. He came
into the sheepfold made of a woman, made under the law, and came
into this sheepfold to live and die for his people, establishing
their righteousness, putting away their guilt, and he leads
them out. That porter that keeps them in
there, that's the law. God's law is going to have to
be satisfied. You're not getting past God's law. Righteousness. Christ. Now, the Scripture sets
forth in verse 4, that's where we'll pick up. And when he putteth
forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow
him. For they know His voice when
He leads His sheep out, when He brings them out of the darkness
of unbelief. And who is He bringing out? Well,
the Scripture says, when He put forth His own sheep. I love the truth set forth of
God's electing grace, that means that some are going
to be saved. That means that God has a remnant
according to election. That means that the Lord, who
is merciful, chose to show mercy to some when He put it forth His own
sheep. When it pleases God to call them
out of darkness. You know, there is a time, Ecclesiastes
says, there's a time to be born. Physically and spiritually, there's
a time to be born. When it pleased the Lord to call
them out of darkness, give them sight, give them faith, He leads
them out. How does God's sheep come out
of the yard of this world, the sheepfold, where all manner of
different flocks are? How? The Lord gives them life. Gives them ears. Gives them eyes
to see. And He speaks to them. And they
follow Him because they know His voice. Now, you listen to
the gospel of God's grace. You listen to the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace. And that blessed gospel, blessed
by the Spirit of God, is the voice of the Master. That's His
gospel. This is not mine as far as me
coming up with it. Paul says it is our gospel. But
it's ours by Him giving it to us by grace. Our gospel we love. This is the voice of the Master.
This is Him speaking. When we say what He says, and
this is preaching, this is proclamation, all we're doing is we're saying
what God says. We don't make this up. We don't
invent anything. All we're doing is looking to
see what does God have to say. That's God's voice. We beseech
you in Christ's stead. Just like when the Lord Jesus
Christ, Matthew 9.9, as Jesus passed forth from thence, He
saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom, and
he saith, Unto Him, follow me." Scripture says, and he arose
and he followed Him. Why? Because he heard the Master's
voice in power, in grace. He knew that voice in power. And you know what else? He wanted
to follow Him. Made willing in the day of God's
power, he wanted to come. You that hear His voice this
morning, do you want to follow Him? Yes, you do. Do you want
to believe? Yes, you do. I want to believe
this Neal. I want to. I want to follow Him. I desire. Where did that want
to come from? He gave it to me. Faith to believe
Him. Faith to hear. Faith to follow. Faith to trust. Luke 19, 5, when
Jesus came to the place, he looked up, he saw him, he said unto
him, Zacchaeus, make haste, come down, for today I must abide
at thy house. And he made haste and came down
and received him joyfully. Come to my house. The Lord is
coming to my house. Lazarus, come forth. And there was a man that was
dead, had been dead four days. And God spoke to him. And life
was given. Life was imparted. And he came
forth, bound up, grave closed. Lucy, well, we've got a lot of
grave closed to get rid of, don't we? Let him go. That is the effectual
call. When a sinner, sitting under
the sound of the gospel, They hear with more than just a natural
ear. They hear in their heart. And
that effectual call, it doesn't change. This is the way the Lord
has always called His people out of darkness. This is how
He calls them out of the yard. This is how He calls them out
of the sheepfold. That place where everybody is. I know a lot of people here with
a natural ear, and they're not affected at all. But to those
that the Lord speaks effectually, they hear. His voice moves that
new heart. They follow because they recognize
Him. You that know Him, you recognize
His voice in the gospel. You hear it? You hear that truth
and you say, you know what? That bears witness to my heart
by the Spirit of God teaching me that that's right. That's
consistent. That's consistent with God's
Scriptures. Those that follow Christ, they seek first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness. I've heard people say, Jesus
is the most important part of my life. And I understand, but
listen to me, Paul said it like this, for me to live is Christ. He's everything. Everything,
everything else revolves around Him. It's not that He's just a part
of when they work Him in. He is their life. He's their life. Everything they
think, though here they are burdened with the presence of sin, everything
they think is concerning Him. It's concerning Him. Everything. Work. Everything. You let the butchers of this
world, the broken pottery, dispute this truth. But I'm telling you,
God Almighty has set forth, He calls His sheep. He put it forth,
verse 4, when He put it forth, His own sheep, when He calls
them out, He goeth before them. And the sheep follow Him, for
they know His voice. But verse 5 says, a stranger
will they not follow, but will flee from Him. For they know
not the voice of a stranger." That is, they consider not. I looked that word up. When it
says they know not, oh, they hear it. You can hear a false
gospel. You let somebody tell you this
lie that we discuss all the time concerning man's way, man's will,
man's doing, man's works. They hear that. Believers hear
it. But they just don't consider
it. That's not the truth. That is not right. The Master's
voice is that voice that honors Christ, honors God Almighty. And the sheep hear that voice.
They know Him. They consider Him. And they spiritually
hear that voice in their heart. It's imperative that the gospel
of God's grace be preached. That is His voice. It doesn't matter if we're in
John, if we're in Proverbs, if we're in Hebrews, Genesis, Revelation. Every message is to honor the
Son. If the Son is not honored, if
man is not put down in himself, if God is not exalted, if salvation
is not set forth as being all of grace, then it's not the voice
of the Master. The voice of the Master sets
forth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every God-called pastor
is taught this gospel. And Almighty God sets forth through
the mouthpiece of a preacher this truth. A stranger to the
truth of God's grace One that looks to himself for life and
exhorts others to look to themselves for their own life. The sheep
will not follow them. They won't consider them. When
a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ hears the heresy of giving
salvation to be in the hands of man, they'll flee from that. Why? Because the Scripture sets
forth in 1 John 2.20, you have an unction from the Holy One. And you know all things. You
say, what do you mean I know all things? I see through a glass
darkly. I know in part. I see in part. I tell you what you do know.
You do know that God Almighty is sovereign. You do know that
man in himself has fallen. You do know that there is salvation
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know all things. And the
Lord will teach you. You know the sound of a false
prophet. You detect a false gospel. A believer will flee. They will
not sit under a lie. because they know the voice of
a stranger. Verse 6 says, this parable spake
Jesus unto them. Now who was he talking to? He
was talking to these Jews, these Pharisees. Back in 39, the Lord
had been speaking to that one that he had healed, called out
of darkness, that beggar for judgment. I'm coming to this
world. that they which see not might see. They which see might
be made blind. Some of the Pharisees which were
with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind also?
The Lord said unto them, If you were blind, you should have no
sin. But now you say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth.
Verily, verily, verse 1, I say unto you, He is still talking
to these Pharisees. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Now here is case in point. Our Lord spoke to those blind
Pharisees and they did not understand. Whenever a believer hears this
parable that the Lord had given concerning the sheepfold, the
yard of this world, and all of the different sheep that are
in there. And those that are in that sheepfold
that are the Lord's, that for Him to get them, He had to come
and be made under the obligation to the law just like them. Made
like unto His brethren. And he had to come into that
sheepfold and he had to live in that sheepfold with them.
Humbled himself. Made himself of no reputation. And in that sheepfold, perfectly
obeyed God. There was one man in that sheepfold
that pleased God. One man in there. And one man,
the God-man Christ Jesus the Lord. One man! Obeyed God. And God spoke from heaven and
said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear
Him. Listen to Him. He is my spokesman. I know Him. He knows me. He knows what I
demand. And I know what He is able to
accomplish. I am pleased with Him. You that
know Him, you understand that. You understand that. Almighty
God gives His people ears to hear, eyes to see, and He leads
them out. You understand that. But He told
them. They didn't understand it. This parable spake Jesus unto
them. They understood not what things they were which He spake
unto them. Verse 7, then said, Jesus said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the
sheep." Now listen to me. Two doors are being spoken of
here. Two doors. Two doors. Whenever
He came into this world, the way He had to come was through
the door of being made under the law. He came into the sheepfold, verse
1, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold. He had to come lawfully. Everybody
else that tried to climb in some other way, thieves and robbers,
what they're saying is the law didn't have to be honored. I'll
tell you this, every man, every woman that believes that you
can establish your own salvation, By your works? By your will? You know what you're saying?
The law doesn't have to be honored. All I have to do is just say,
I'm sorry. Made a mistake. No big deal. Yes, it's a big
deal. You're a thief and a robber if
you think that you can come in some other way. Lawfully. He had to come in by the door
into this sheepfold. By the door of the law. God's
way. God's way. God's way. God's honor. God's truth. God's demand. God's law had to be honored. And He came in by the door of
the law. But now whenever He leads His
sheep out, they come out by Him. He is their door. He came in
by the door of the law to establish and honor God's law. Please God,
save and redeem His people. And now when He leads them out,
He is the door. He is their way out. Then said
Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door
of the sheep, He is the door out of the sheepfold
into the very presence of Almighty God. In Him, the sheep are accepted. So don't let these Scriptures
confuse you. There's two doors. A door in
that He honored the law. The door out is Him. Him. He had the door that had to be
satisfied at Porter. He is their way out. Verse 8
says, All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but
the sheep did not hear them. All that ever came before me,
All, not sin of God. All that ever came before me.
Now the key to understanding that verse right there is to
understand what he meant when he said, before me. He was not
speaking of those prophets, sin of God, that came. He wasn't
talking about Moses. in Ezekiel and Jeremiah and all
those prophets. He wasn't talking about those
that came before Him in time, before He came into this world
made flesh. He wasn't talking about that
at all. The words, before me, means superior
to. He was speaking of all that exalted
themselves above Him. That's what the word before me
doesn't mean time. It means in rank. Those that
came thinking that they were before me, above me, able to
accomplish without me. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers Just like the Pharisees that he was
talking to. Just like every man, every woman
that thinks that they can present themselves before God without
Him, above Him, superior to Him. Do you understand the seriousness
of this thing of thinking that you can do something as far as
establishing a standing before God accepted? All that came before
me, exalting themselves above me, superior to me, thieves and
robbers, wanting the glory, wanting the
honor, wanting the praise. As I said before, this is what
man says, I didn't do much, but at least I walked down the
aisle. I didn't do much, but at least
I accepted Jesus. I know I hadn't been in church
in a long time, but once saved, always saved. I'm telling you,
all that ever came before me, exalting themselves, thieves
and robbers, but you know what? The sheep did not hear them.
The sheep will not hear them. I'm telling you, when Saul of
Tarsus, before God called him out of darkness, you know what
Paul admitted later in Philippians 3? What he truly thought of himself. This is what he thought of himself.
Philippians 3.6, he said, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. That's what he thought of himself.
Blameless! All that believe they please
God on their own merit, thieves and robbers, seeking to rob Christ
of His honor, possess a position that they had no right or calling
to. All that say that the work at
Calvary was not enough, I must add my work. Thieves, robbers,
you write this down. Every man, you write this down. I'm telling you right now. According
to these scriptures, every person, every man that stands in shamefully
so, when I see a sign that's got a woman's name on it, that
just aggravates me to no end. That's another issue. I'm telling
you, every person that does not preach the sovereign saving Grace
of Almighty God. Finished. Sovereign electing. Sovereign redeeming. Sovereign
calling. Sovereign keeping. Grace is a
thief and a robber. They are a liar. The Lord said,
verse 9, I am the door. By Me, if any man enter in, He
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The only door for the sheep is
the shepherd. The true shepherd. Only by Him
and without any other addition to Him. By Me only. If any man enter in, to what?
In closing. To what? Look at verse 16. We'll get to this, Lord willing,
next time. He said, Other sheep I have which are not of this
fold. That word, fold, right there. Same as sheepfold. Yard. Them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold.
Different word. Looks the same. Not. It's not. It means flock. The first fold
up there, verse 16, means the yard. By the sheep I have. They're not in this yard of Judaism. Them I must bring. They shall hear my voice. There
shall be one flock. This sheep fold has got a lot
of flocks in it. There's a lot of tares among the wheat. There's
a lot of flocks. There's a flock here, a flock
here, a flock here. God has a people in that yard, and there's going
to be one flock, one shepherd. Now, like all the other shepherds,
you know, how we talked about, all these shepherds would bring
all their different flocks in there. Our Lord had a people
in that sheepfold. Bring them back, there's going
to be one flock, one shepherd, accepted by Almighty God. Neither, Acts 4.12, is there
salvation in any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby you must be saved." They
shall go in and out and find pasture. You know, any time a
door is entered, you go in to something and out of something
else. A door is a way. Anytime you go into, you come
out of something. And here the regenerated sheep,
they are going to go in regeneration into. Into the fold, the flock
of verse 16. Into a knowledge of Christ. Into
the experience of regeneration in life. And they come out of
the sheepfold, the yard of unbelief. The spiritual darkness. Now,
this going in and coming out, go in, go out, that's not a continual
thing. One time. One time. They go in
and come out. I mean, you think you read that
and you say, well, it's like they go in and out. No. But you're going
to go out of the flock after God's put you in it? One time. Not continually. Now, they will
grow in grace. and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior. But they come out one time. Go in one time. Almighty God
saves them one time. And He keeps them forever. They'll never perish. I give
them eternal life. Never. Lord, You're the Shepherd. We're the sheep. needy, unable
to guide ourselves. Lord, without you we can do nothing.
Lord, bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.