I love how the Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence
of his enemies, makes sure his friends know who he is. Because it's only the sheep that
are ever going to hear his voice. It's only the sheep that are
going to follow. It's only the sheep that are going to come
to him. It's only the sheep that he came for, to give eternal
life. It is. It is a glorious glory. that in the book of God that
we have before us, saving faith is not what you believe about
yourself. Saving faith is what you believe
about the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith always and only
looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith is one of the whosoever's
calling upon his name, which is to call upon his character
as it's revealed in the scriptures. It's that salvation that God's
people stand. It's what they receive as the
Word of God is proclaimed. And what glorious, glorious comfort
it is to the believers to know that this is our God. And this
is the one who was called. And this is the voice that we
hear. And may that be the case again
and again, that it would be the shepherd's voice calling the
sheep, calling the straying sheep to himself. I was wondering how
many sheep there were in Australia. There's nearly 79 million sheep
in Australia. We have one of the biggest flocks
of sheep in all the world. How many wild sheep are out there? They've become famous because
they get so much wool on them after several years. Graham's
probably seen some of them. They've become famous because
they can't look after themselves and the wool will bear them down
and the heat of it will kill them and the bugs and other things,
the flies and other things that live in it will eventually kill
them, so they live agonizing deaths. How many wild goats are
there in Australia at the moment? 2.3 million wild goats in Australia
and no wild sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ will come
in that great day and he'll separate all humanity between the sheep
and the goats. The sheep are dependent. The sheep are dependent. The
sheep flock. The sheep need a shepherd. They
need a shepherd to care for them. They need a shepherd to feed
them. They need a shepherd to protect them from wolves. They
need a shepherd to keep them from the hiling and the wolves. They need a shepherd to keep
them from disease. They just need a shepherd. They're
just dependent, aren't they? And it's lovely to spend time,
as I have in this last week with Owen and and there comes a time
in all of our lives when we'll be dependent. We don't realise
we're dependent now. We think we're independent, but
we are utterly dependent. And it's so wonderful, isn't
it? What's the conversation about? The conversation is about this
God and what He's done. It's about the voice that He
heard all those years ago when Henry Mayan came. It was a voice
that called Him out. of the world's religion and it's
a voice that called him into the arms of the shepherd and
he hasn't stopped rejoicing. He hasn't stopped rejoicing.
And then the very next day I go up and see Rob who's been placed
in a state of utter dependence and Kay and all the family. We're
all and the only thing that is going to get them through this
difficult time in a way where they will be rejoicing in this
world is the sovereign hand of God and everyone associated with
it knows that it's just a miracle. Everything is a miracle, isn't
it? Everything is miraculous. Our God reigns and rules over
all. But calling on his name, believing
him, is the gift of God And the Lord Jesus Christ wants
us to know who we believe. He wants us to know who the shepherd
is that's calling. He wants us to know the wonder
of his power. We looked last week at it and
I'll just deal with it briefly. He says, my sheep, verse 27,
my sheep, my sheep. They're mine, he says, by gift. They're mine by the purchase
of his redemptive work. They're mine made willing in
the day of his power. My sheep hear. They've been given
ears to hear by God Almighty. They hear his gospel. They hear
his direction. They won't hear the strangers.
And what's the mark of the strangers? Who gets the glory? Who gets
the glory? The shepherd gets absolutely
all of the glory. The father gets all of the glory
for electing the sheep. The son gets all of the glory
for redeeming the sheep. The Holy Spirit gets all of the
glory for bringing the life of God into the souls of those people. And you know the voice of a stranger,
don't you? The voice of a stranger is always the voice of man doing
something, man getting some glory, man having some participation
in it. God... I just spoke to Norm about it
last week. We used to go to those Christmas
gatherings where they would have a barbecue and they'd get as
many people out as possible and then they would have the man,
the preacher, would come out and he'd have this beautifully
wrapped up present with a beautiful big bow tie on it and said, Wouldn't
it be a shame if under the Christmas tree there was one present left
and the present is the gift of eternal life? There's not a single word in
this book that allows us to think that that's got anything to do
with the gospel. A shame? Who's it a shame for? It's a
shame for God Almighty sending his Son into this world. A shame
for God Almighty putting his Son to death on the cross of
Calvary. A shame for God the Holy Spirit
not being able to call them. That's not what is being said
here and it's not what's said anywhere, is it? There's no present
under the tree. There's no offer. Our God saves. of the Lord that's the shepherds
voice they hear my voice I know them and they follow me they
follow me they follow me And I give unto them eternal life. It's not earned, it's a gift
of God. And if it's a gift of God, it's
not earned because of what you do, and it cannot be lost because
of what you do. If it can be lost, it's not eternal.
Eternal life has no beginning and no end. It can't be lost. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. What is the one cause of perishing
in this world? Sin. Sin is the one cause of
perishing. Those born of God, according
to 1 John 3, cannot sin. God's seed remains in them. They
cannot sin. That's why they're not lost.
That's why they're not lost. This is eternal life. now, brothers and sisters in
Christ. Eternal life is a now. It's an
ever-present now. That's what it is, to be in His
presence. No one's going to pluck them
out of my hand. No one's going to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. My Father, verse 29, which gave
them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I and father, the my is in italics,
I and father are one. I want us to look at that verse
and look at it in terms of what we see in this. There are three
glorious unions in the scripture. There is the glorious union of
the Lord Jesus Christ with his Father and with the Holy Spirit. They are God. All of them are
God. God the Father is God, God the
Son is God, God the Holy Spirit is God and they are in perfect
union. There is the glorious union of
the Lord Jesus Christ with humanity, with human flesh. God cannot die, but God in man
can die. And then these verses speak to
us of the union of Christ in Christ of all his sheep. He just
sees them as one, doesn't he? Because in his eyes they are
all one, aren't they? They are just one glorious flock
in one fold. There shall be one fold and one
shepherd. And the Lord Jesus Christ here
is speaking for the security and the comfort of the child
of God. And in the face of his enemies,
in the face of the religious world, he wants his people to
know this. He wants his people to know this. He wants to make
it abundantly clear and he has repeated it again and again and
again. And a little bit later on we'll look at John chapter
17 and you will see that he prays that we'll know it. We would
praise that we would now, right now, rejoice in what he's saying. Salvation is believing that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. And this is the description of
Him as the Son of God. My Father and I are one. And so in this verse we have
the answer to all the ridiculous nonsense that the Jehovah's Witnesses
and other people who would deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
would promote to us. I had a couple of them come to
me a couple of weeks ago and they said, we just want to talk
to you about the things of this world. I said, no you don't.
You're lying to me. You want to come and tell me
that the Lord Jesus Christ is not God Almighty. And I'm here
to tell you about him if you'll just listen for a little bit.
It's two individual persons. I and my father are one. Are one. We are one substance. Both of
us are one substance. Not one person, but two people,
but one substance. There is a glorious mystery in
the Trinity of God Almighty, and if you can understand your
God and put Him in a box that causes you to understand Him
and be confident you're understanding of Him, He's far too small. He's
too big. He's far too big. He fills all
in all. He's speaking of the fact that
he has complete equality with his father. He is sent from God.
He's sanctified and sent into this world. He's sent to do his
father's will. He's made of a woman, made under
the law. They are one. They are one in purpose. They
are one in power. They are one in will. This is
a glorious, glorious mystery, isn't it? being revealed in the flesh.
But in this verse we have a great giver, don't we? And we have
a great gift, and we have a great recipient. This union within
the Godhead, this union of Christ in humanity and deity, this union
of Christ of all of his sheep and all of his branches. It's
all of our salvation is wrapped up in who he is. All of our salvation
is wrapped up in what he does because of who he is. These unions
are essential to our salvation, but they're essential and vital
to our comfort. Our comfort. And the wonderful
thing about them is that God gets all the glory and his church
gets all the comfort of being in him. Again and again and again. speaks in these terms of this
union, this union which is the foundation of all communion. I want us to turn just briefly
to John chapter 17. I know we began our studies in
John reading this, but I would encourage you to read it again
and again and again. It is just the most remarkable
prayer. It is the real Lord's prayer.
He couldn't pray and had no need to pray the Lord's Prayer that's
in Matthew Chapter 6. It's a prayer for us. But here
the Lord Jesus Christ prays for himself and he speaks about an
hour that's come. Now glorify your son that your
son might glorify you. And it speaks of his power over
all flesh. He speaks of life eternal. It's about knowing God, knowing
the true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. It speaks
of his glory. And now it speaks of him being
glorified by what happens on the cross in John chapter 5.
But down from verse 6 right down to verse 19, he's praying for
his apostles, the 11 apostles that were there with him. But
I want us to start in verse 20. I want us to read these verses
and to contemplate the wonder of what it is for him to be God
Almighty, for him to be one with his Father, and what it is for
us to be in him. He says, Neither pray I for these
alone, not for these eleven apostles that are before him, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word, that
they all may be one. as, in the same way, as Thou,
Father, art in me, and I in Thee. There is union and communion,
extraordinary isn't it? That they may also be one in
us. that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me." And I think the word world there is speaking
of the world of his elect, the world of his sheep. He's already
said in verse 9 that he's not praying for this world in general,
he's praying for his people, he's praying for his sheep. But
he wants us to know He wants us to know and to believe that
He has been sent, that Thou hast sent me. Listen to verse 22.
And the glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them that they
may be one, even as we are one. I in them and Thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved me. Father, I will. This is the will
of the Lord Jesus Christ being expressed on the night before
he was crucified, I will that they also whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which
thou hast given me. For thou lovest me before the
foundation of the world, O righteous Father, The world has not known
Thee, but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou
hast sent me. And I have declared unto them
Thy name, the character of God Almighty, and will declare it,
that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me, may be in them,
and I in them. So what's the hope of glory? Christ in you, Colossians 1.27. Christ in you, the hope of glory. The Lord is petitioning to the cross. Four times there
are petitions in here, isn't it? That they may be one in us,
that they may be one even as we are one. I will also, verse
24, whom thou hast given me, be where I am, that they may
behold my glory. And the last one is glorious,
isn't it? I have declared unto them thy name and will declare
it that. This is a petition, isn't it?
That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them
and I in them. did the Lord Jesus Christ answer
to have those petitions answered? How do we know the resurrection? We know because it's true, because
God has written it. Our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking
as our substitute and our representative, but he's speaking of a union.
He is our Saviour God. He's one with the Father, God-blessed,
Father over all, God-blessed forever. Here is our great High
Priest, the Messiah, praying his prayer. And as the High Priest
went into the Holy of Holies, He went in with blood. The Lord
Jesus Christ, you can read about it in Hebrews 7, 8 and 9. He goes into the Holy of Holies
in heaven with his own blood. But in his prayer, he's praying,
as the high priest went in, he went in and he took coals from
off the altar. God the Father lit that The fire
represents the fire of the wrath of God entering into the very
body of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ consuming
the wrath of God in his own body. But he went in with a censer,
didn't he, and he had coals. The incense, that glorious incense,
and he went into the Holy of Holies and he sprinkled the incense
on the hot coals in the censer and the cloud of it filled, filled
the Holy of Holies. It's a glorious picture of his
prayer, isn't it? If we want to know, there's a
glorious verse in Hebrews chapter 12 where it says, for the joy
set before him, he endured the cross. The joy that was set before
him. What's the joy that was set before
the Lord Jesus Christ? He endured the cross, despising
the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. Well here in these verses in John chapter 10 and the record
again in so many other places in John 6 and John 8, and we'll
see it pictured beautifully in John chapter 11, here is the
joy set before him. The wonder of his union with
humanity and the wonder of his union with his people. They're
all one, aren't they? Union is the foundation of all
communion. That's what the word means. My Father and I, we are one. Co-equal, co-eternal persons,
personally distinct. He can call and pray to his Father. They're personally distinct,
yet essentially one. The great prayer of the Jews
was, the Lord, our God, is one Lord. The Lord, Our Elohim is
One Jehovah. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God in human flesh. In Him, Colossians 2 says, the
fullness of the Deity dwells in a body. And only His sheep knew it. And only His sheep knew it when
it was revealed to them. And without that divine revelation,
they cannot see Him. How close is that union, John
17, 23? Thou art in me and I in thee. There's a mutual indwelling. There is. The glory of the fact
that we are talking and speaking about things that are way beyond
us, but we're so thankful that God has written them. Jesus Christ
is God Almighty. Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Those raindrops are falling out
there. Why? They're falling exactly where
they're falling because that's what He ordained from the foundation
of the world. Hebrews 1 says He's upholding
all things by the word of His power. The only reason we're
sitting here today, the only reason this globe is still turning,
the only reason the sun is still shining, the only reason this
universe exists today is because of the Lord Jesus Christ and
His deity. I don't know if you're like me,
but I need to be reminded of how big He is. I need to be reminded again and
again of how extraordinary it is that this God who's for his
people, is with his people, and is in his people. It's a glorious
gospel. There is a union between the
Lord Jesus Christ and God, an indissolvable and an eternal
union. There is a union between the
Lord Jesus Christ and humanity, isn't it? He was truly and fully
man. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
six. You know the verse as well, but I want us to be reminded
that when we have in the scriptures, capital L, capital O, capital
R and capital D, it's speaking of God Almighty, Father, Son
and Spirit. And when we have capital L, little
o, little r, little d, we have the fullness of the Godhead in
a body. It speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So keep that in mind as we read these amazing verses. In the
year the king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a
throne. I saw the Lord Jesus Christ sitting
upon a throne. But Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what John 12 says. He
saw Him sitting on a throne. If you ever see the Lord Jesus
Christ with the eyes of faith by revelation from God, you'll
always see Him high and lifted up. High and lifted up, and His
train filled the temple. The temple is the meeting place
between God and man. You know what a train is. You've
seen a coronation of a queen or a bride with a long train. The train follows along at exactly
the same pace and always It's the meeting place between
God and man. It's always going to be full.
There aren't any spare seats in heaven. There aren't any wasted
crowns being made. Above it stood the seraphims.
Each of them had six wings. With twain he covered his face,
and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. The seraphim hide the reality
of their creatureness in the presence of God Almighty. And
one cried unto the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord God Almighty of hosts. He's speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The whole earth is full of his glory. Wouldn't that be
an amazing thing to see? The whole earth is full of his
glory. The whole earth is full of his
glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. What happens when you see him
high lifted up? And that house is filled with
that incense of his prayers, the incense of his prayers as
a result of his sacrifice on the cross. the smoke. You can't see the candlestick
because he is the candlestick. You can't see the bread on the
table because he is the bread of life on the table. You can't
see that labour of washing because we are washed in his blood and
with him we enter into the holy of holies and it's all full of
his glory. Woe is me, says Isaiah, for I
am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts. And this is the result of it,
isn't it? Then flew one of the seraphims. This is gospel preachers. unto me, having a live coal in
his hand, which he had taken with tongs from off the altar,
and he laid it on my mouth, and said, Lo, this is touched still
at your lips, and your iniquity, thine iniquity is taken away,
and thy sin is purged, washed away. The union of the Lord Jesus
Christ. While you're there in Isaiah,
just turn over a page to Isaiah chapter nine. There are well-known
verses but they speak of this glorious union of the Lord Jesus
Christ who is God Almighty with humanity. For unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful. Counsellor, the mighty God the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. That's just such a
glorious description. Isn't it wonderful? Counselor doesn't mean that he's
like a psychologist. It means that he has a counsel.
There's a counsel of peace between him and the Father. It's speaking
of his covenant engagements. He is the mighty God. That's
what they're declaring. He is the everlasting Father.
He is the Prince of Peace, of the increase of his government
and peace. There shall be no end. I give
unto them eternal life, says the Lord Jesus Christ, and no
one's going to pluck them out of my Father's hand. upon the
throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish
it with judgment and with justice from henceforth forever. The
zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Don't you love
that? who is responsible for the performance
of getting all of the sheep into the one fold and the one shepherd.
How much power is involved in doing that, brothers and sisters?
The power of Almighty God indeed. There is a union. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God Almighty and He's in union with His Father and
the Blessed Holy Spirit. There is a glorious union, and
we'll finish with this, a glorious union of Christ and his church. He is united. This God that we're
speaking of is united to them, and they are united to him. And because he has dealt with
all of their sins, absolutely nothing to stop the blessed man. Blessed is the man whose sins
are forgiven, whose iniquity is purged. Blessed is that man. There's nothing that hinders
God Almighty coming to them and dwelling with them. He's of too
pure eyes to look upon a gone, then we are brothers and sisters
in Christ, a perfect receptacle. He's united to them and they
are united to them. Listen to what he says in John
17 verse 23. I'm in the wrong book. John 17 verse
23. I in them. This God that we've been speaking
of, this God Almighty, I in them, And thou in me, that they may
be made perfect in one. that the world may know that
Thou hast sent them and hast loved them as Thou hast loved
me. There is a day called the Day
of Love, the Time of Love. The Lord speaks of it in John
14. He says, In that day, when the Spirit comes to reveal the
Lord Jesus Christ, when the gospel comes with power, when the voice
of the shepherd is heard with clarity, and there is a hearing
and a following and a rejoicing in who he is, in that day, John
14, 20, you shall know, this is the knowledge that God's children
have, you shall know that I am in my Father. And you in me, and I in you. They are the words of God Almighty. How safe, how secure. No wonder the Lord speaks of
giving them eternal life. No wonder the Lord speaks of
no one being able to pluck them out of my hand. I and the Father
are one. He wants us. Again and again
and again the desire of His servants is for us to know that and to
be reminded of it again and again and again. The Lord is praying
for this union to be revealed and for us to know it and for
us to have a knowledge of it and for us to speak about it.
again and again and again. We speak about Him. We speak
about what He's done. It's the comfort of God's people. This union is so sweet and pleasant
to the Lord. This is for the joy set before
Him. He endured the cross and despised
the shame. Listen to how He speaks about
it in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 5 and 6. He does it all, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ according
to, listen to these words, the good pleasure of His will. Is God pleased? He's pleased, brothers and sisters.
He cannot be more pleased with His people. He's pleased with
the work of His Son. It's glorious to Him. First six
of Ephesians 1, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted, graced in the beloved. Who does the
work? Who does the praising? Who does
the rejoicing? And this church, because of this
glorious union, I can't read all the verse but in Ephesians
chapter 2, this church, the church that he has built, in whom you're
also built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the sons
of God. It's the church which he has
purchased with his own blood. So the saints are partakers of
the divine nature. They have one heart, one soul,
one new birth, one heavenly spiritual calling. They have one light,
precious faith. That's why we're encouraged again
and again to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,
because he is our peace. Ephesians 4, there's one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all. Listen to
this description of this God who is above all and through
all and in you all. One God and Father over all,
above all, and in you all. No wonder when
the gospel was proclaimed in Acts, all the gathered sheep
had heard the shepherd's voice. They were one in heart and soul,
and they had all things together, and they had them all in common.
This union, this glorious union, these three glorious unions,
is what believers are drawn to, and they find their rest, their
peace, their assurance, their hope. We are to grow in the grace
and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might love him
and love those in him, to live for him, to live with him. We're chosen to see God, we're
chosen to hear his voice, We're chosen to have him call us by
name. We're chosen to eternal glory. We're chosen to behold his glory. There shall be, John 10, 16,
one fold, just in one shepherd, united. He is the head. We are the body. He is the head. Where is the head now? If the head's already gone there,
the body will follow, brothers and sisters. Our God cannot lose
a single sheep without losing all of his glory. Heavenly Father,
please bless your words to our hearts and cause your Son to
be exalted in our midst and for us to be drawn again to him.
We pray in his name. Amen.