the great shepherd of the sheep. We read it last week. It's just
such an amazing scripture in Hebrews 13, 20. Now the God of
peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep through the blood covenant, make you perfect in
every good work to do his will, working in you that which is
well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory
forever and ever. So in John chapter 10 we read
the story as the Lord introduces himself as that shepherd, that
shepherd that's typified in all the shepherds of the Old Testament
like David, the shepherd boy, and Moses spent those 40 years
as a shepherd. And here in John's gospel we
have the shepherd working and acting and in the context of
this passage of scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ is still, I
believe, in the aftermath of the Feast of Tabernacles up until
John 10, verse 21. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
showed himself to be the light of the world and he creates light
and create sight to bring his people to worship himself. That's
how he's shepherding this person. He's shepherded that man, didn't
he? And in John, in earlier, he performed that miracle of
healing that woman. Healing her of sin, I don't condemn
you. What a remarkable statement to
say for someone who is openly guilty. That's the glory of the
gospel, isn't it? How an openly guilty, condemned sinner can
be set free by the Saviour. See, both these sheep were saved
from the clutches of the gospel, one from death to life. She was
due to die that day. The law said you must die right
now, but also said he must die with you, but you must die. That
was what they were hoping to cause him to be seen, to be not
merciful. And the other one was shepherded,
wasn't he? From darkness to light, from
blindness to seeing, from blindness to believing, to worship. the Lord, and both of them received
his words after they'd been rejected and left outside the camp of
the religious, cast aside. In our salvation, before we go
to John chapter 10, our Saviour's honour is at stake. The glory
of God is at stake in the salvation of all that the Father gave him. He keeps the sheep, the sheep
don't keep themselves. But I want us to see just briefly
in our time remaining, I want to see our shepherd in John chapter
10 as a covenant shepherd, as a shepherd who makes promises
and the promises are all the promises that were entailed in
the everlasting covenant that we just read about. I want us
to see that our Lord is a smitten shepherd. which is very clearly
set before us in John chapter 10. I want us to see that our
shepherd is a resurrected shepherd. I want us to see especially that
our shepherd is a sovereign and gracious shepherd. But so many
times in this passage of scripture, it spoke of people who hear his
words. In verse 40, the Pharisees heard
his words. And they hear, and they didn't
hear what he'd said. In verse six he says, this parable
Jesus spoke unto them, but they understood nothing. understood
not what things were which he spoke to them. The Lord Jesus
Christ spoke in the simplest terms you could possibly imagine.
He talked about being a vine. He talked about being a shepherd.
He talked about being a sailor. He talked about being a fisherman. He talked about himself in terms
that are so common to everyday life that you could see a picture
of what he was saying every time you walked outside and every
time you walked down the street you could see him. He's the bread
of life. He's the water. that water that
flows unto everlasting life. He took the simplest things of
creation and our experience to explain himself. So the problem's
not in the intelligence of man, is it? The problem, the problem
is in the heart of man. The heart of man is deceitfully
wicked and beyond cure and the heart of man is a fallen heart.
And the only solution, the only solution is that God must give
a new heart and God must speak as he alone can speak. And that's
why I said earlier that word voice in, that's used there so
often. The sheep hear his voice, verse
three. He calleth his own sheep by name. He has a name for them. He knows
them all by name. And he leads them out. And he
puteth forth his own sheep and he goes before them. The sheep
follow him for they know his voice. And these other people
didn't hear what he had said to them. He says other sheep,
verse 16. Other sheep I have. Other sheep
he has. which are not of this fold, not
of the Jewish fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. So there is a vast difference,
isn't there? The difference between heaven
and hell, the difference between salvation and being lost, is
actually hearing a voice rather than just hearing words. Around
this world, multitudes hear the words of the scriptures read
to them and never hear a voice. They never hear a voice. They never hear a voice. And
that's the accusation that is made against the religious world. It's the accusation that Paul,
who had known the words of this book off by heart, and had never
heard a voice. He'd never heard a voice of a
shepherd. And that's what he said to the rules, isn't it? For they that dwell at Jerusalem,
this is the rules, this is the rules of this religious world
that we live in today, because nothing has changed, because
they knew him not. nor yet the voices of the prophets."
So they knew the prophet's prophecy off by heart. They could recite
it to you. They could write dissertations
on it. They could study it in their Bible colleges. They could
go over land and see as missionaries to do things according to what
they thought the word was. And they didn't hear it. They
knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets. And they read
them every Sabbath day fulfilled to our glory or they
are fulfilled to our condemnation. The voice must come. It's the voice of authority,
isn't it? When the Lord speaks, he speaks like no one else speaks,
isn't he? No one spoke like this man. In
John chapter 7 they sent out an armed guard to arrest the
Lord Jesus Christ and they came back and says, no one's ever
spoken like this. Why didn't you bring him in?
Never man spoke like this man. He had power and authority in
his voice, and yet those who heard it, unless they were given
a new heart and new eyes and a new creation to see and believe,
they just don't hear. It's the voice. The voice of
our God is a voice of authority, isn't it? He speaks as God speaks. No one else ever spoke like the
Lord Jesus Christ. How amazing it must have been
to have been there and heard him speak. And yet millions did. Millions did, thousands did,
we don't know exactly how many, but a huge number of people.
They say there was a million people in Jerusalem at that festival,
the Passover, and he was there for three and a half years visiting
that temple and beforehand. But his voice is a voice that's
heard personally. He speaks powerfully, and he
speaks with a voice of authority. He says to that man, you go and
watch. power. Norm spoke out of Psalm
29 about it a few weeks ago. It's remarkable. You read about
the power of the word of God. He shakes the heavens and he
shakes the earth with his word. This man was just told, you go
and wash. And he went and he washed. It's a voice of command. It's a voice which is unique. It's a voice which is creative. It's a voice which is He creates life by speaking. He creates new birth. He creates
life by speaking through his gospel. They are grace words. His words are grace words. They're grace words. In Luke
chapter four, there's a description of those who are the recipients
of the grace of God. See if you fit this category.
The spirit of the Lord is upon me. This is the Lord Jesus preaching
in Nazareth. Because he has anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor. Are you poor? You have nothing to bring to
God to pay. You have nothing to barter with,
nothing to borrow. Are you poor? Are you poor? He's anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted.
A brokenhearted is not just a sick heart. A brokenheart is a heart,
as Jeremiah described it, which is deceitfully wicked and beyond
cure. A brokenheart doesn't work. And
it's a new heart that he gives you. It's a new heart. He must
give a new heart. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives. You're unable to set
yourself free by anything you do whatsoever. Recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to set at liberty them that are crushed. They're grace words. That's the description that God
gives of those words. They're grace words. And when
the Lord Jesus Christ describes himself and who he is and how
God saves sinners, the result was in the hearts of those Nazarenes
so much enmity. He'd given them grace words and
they'd acknowledged them as grace words, and yet they hated him
and wanted to kill him. And he just walks through them. So the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his voice is a voice of authority, his voice is a
voice of power, his voice is command and his people are made
willing in the day of his power. His voice is a unique voice.
If he speaks to you through his words, through the preaching
of the gospel, you'll hear. will become spirit and life.
They'll become powerful and they'll be burnt into your heart and
soul by the hand of our great God. So they're spirit and life
words, they're words of revelation. Mary saw the Lord Jesus Christ
outside that tomb that resurrection day. And it was only when he
spoke her name and he revealed himself to her, he spent Maybe
hours walking to Emmaus, and it was only when he broke bread
in the presence of those two that they knew that it was him.
Their hearts had burned on all of that journey, burned within
them as he spoke to them and declared himself to be the one
in all of the scriptures. They all speak of him. And he
must speak for there to be revelation. He must say, as he did to Mary,
he must say, Mary, he must say, he must call by name. It's the voice that creates faith. I love what the Samaritan villagers
said in John chapter 4 when that woman came back and she talked
about him and he told me all things whatsoever I did. And
they say to him, Now we believe, after he spent those days, not
because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves. And
listen to what they had heard. And know that this is indeed
the Christ, the Saviour of the world. It's the voice of salvation. It's a voice. It's the voice
of salvation. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead, the spiritually
dead, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. It's the voice that brings worship. And so when we read these words
of scripture, our prayer should be, Lord speak. Your servants
here, you speak, you speak. like the blind man, to believe
and worship, to worship believing that he is the Lord, to have
a voice that causes us to see. So in the little time we have
remaining, I just wanted to go through John chapter 10 and I
want us to see that our shepherd is a covenant shepherd. I want
to see that our shepherd is a smitten shepherd. I want us to see that
our shepherd is a resurrected shepherd and is a sovereign and
glorious shepherd. because the shepherd has come.
His people have life because the shepherd has died. His people
have life because the shepherd takes them into the sheepfold.
He takes them into that entrance that we spoke of earlier into
heaven. He said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth
not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
is a thief and a robber. The thieves and the robbers.
A thief is someone who steals from you by subtlety. A robber
is someone who steals from you violently. That's the difference,
isn't it? And this blind man had been cast
out. They had robbed God. his glory
and they were trying to rob this man of his comfort. They were
casting him to hell in their estimation. Thieves and robbers
always want to take and diminish the glory of God. I always want
to put people under a bondage that their salvation has got
to do with something that they have done. And if your salvation
begins with an act that you have done, your salvation will be
maintained by an act that you will do, and they'll tell you
what to do. I did it for years in religion. I did it for years. I was telling
so many people, you just live like me and everything will be
fine. The solution to your problems is to do and do and do. We are, until the Lord opens
our eyes, we are ignorant. And we cannot see the blind guys,
and we cannot see the deceit. They look so much like shepherds,
and they speak so much like shepherds. that it's only when the Lord
Jesus Christ is revealed that they seem to be what they are.
It's only He who exposes them. When Satan comes as a roaring
lion, you might have some chance of finding out who he is, but
if he comes, as he does in this world today, invariably, when
he does his most powerful work, he's doing it as an angel of
light, and he's doing it in a pulpit. That's where all the blasphemy
that we should be horrified by in this world has come from,
isn't it? Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness,
whose end shall be according to their works." What sort of
righteousness are they talking about? They're talking about your righteousness,
aren't they? They're not wanting you to live
openly wicked, immoral lives. They're wanting to tell you how
you can be righteous by something that you do, rather than by the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. A thief and a robber. in by the door is the shepherd. is the shepherd of the sheep. He has sheep in this world. There's always the sheep, the
particular sheep, he's the shepherd of the sheep. To him, verse three,
the porter openeth the sheep, hear his voice, and he calleth
his own sheep by name, and he leadeth them out. Our God, our
shepherd, is a great and glorious and powerful shepherd. When he
calls, when his voice is heard, his sheep respond to him and
he calls them out. He calls them out. He calls them
out of this world. He calls them out of religion. He calls them out. To him the
port are open, the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own
sheep by name and he leadeth them out. his sheep. He leads his sheep. He has this
particular sheep. He leads them out. When he putteth
forth his own sheep. Listen to it in verse 4. When
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. He doesn't
drive his sheep. He is a covenant shepherd, isn't
he? He has some sheep. He has some sheep in this world
that the Father gave him before the foundation of the world.
And in that covenant that we read about in Hebrews 13 20,
that covenant, in that covenant, he promised his father as the
surety of that covenant, that he would take full responsibility
for all these sheep. The return of the sheep to the
sheep fold, the entry of the sheep into heaven is the responsibility
of the shepherd. It's the responsibility of the
shepherd, his own sheep. They're mine, he says. All that
the Father gives me is mine. There will be just one God and
there will be one people, and they're my people. He calls his
own. How precious it is that the Lord
Jesus Christ has a people he calls his own in this world.
He's not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. He says, you're
mine. In them, they're nothing but
sin. In Him they are absolutely perfect, and He shepherds them. The shepherds hear their sheep,
hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name, and they
follow Him. They follow Him. It's not for
nothing that the Lord Jesus Christ calls His sheep. a shepherd. Sheep can't look after themselves
at all. He's a covenant shepherd. He
has his sheep in this world. I hear his voice. A stranger
they will not follow. but will flee from him, for they
know not the voice of strangers." There is a voice that comes with
the power and the authority of the shepherd, and there is a
voice that the sheep hear and they do not respond to it. I
remember a time we had someone come here and preach a long time
ago, and there were 14 people came to me after he had finished
and said, there's something wrong. The sheep didn't hear a shepherd's
voice. They heard a voice telling them
what they can do to make themselves better over time. And it was
interesting because lots of people could say, oh, there's something
wrong, without being able to say it's wrong. And that's exactly
what it is with the sheep, isn't it? The sheep hear the voice
of the shepherd, and they will not follow a stranger. They will not. They will flee
from him. This parable, this parable spoke
Jesus. he spake unto them. Such simple
things are not understood by the religious who are so self-righteous
and so little in need of a shepherd that they think that they can
see. And that was their problem, wasn't
it? That was the accusation he made against them. You can see,
you can see why God will save you. You can see why you should
enter in. You can see why you should be as they thought themselves
to be the shepherd of the sheep. You can see, they thought, why
this man is an imposter. They understood not, and he spoke
to them. He spoke to them, that's what
it says, isn't it? He spoke to them, and they understood not.
Then said Jesus unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
All that came, see they came in their own strength, they came
in their own power, and they came in their own means. All
of God's shepherds, all of God's under-shepherds are sent by God.
They don't come in their own strength, they don't come in
their own name. They are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did
not hear them. I am the door, if any man enter in, he shall
be saved. He shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill
and destroy, and I have come that they might have life. and
they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He giveth his life
for the sheep. Our Lord is a smitten shepherd.
He says, I lay down my life for the sheep, verse 15. I lay down
my life for the sheep. That's what defines the sheep
in John chapter 10 and in so many other places in the scriptures,
isn't it? That's what defines us. That's why we're so particular
about what happened at the cross and we're so jealous for the
glory and honour of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that
everyone he died for must be saved, everyone he loved must
be saved. All that the Father give him
will come to him and in all that come to him he'll know why he's
cast out. He has power over all flesh. See this declaration of
a successful salvation is precious, is defining of who we are, which
is why when someone denies it and says that he died for you,
if you add something to it, you add your faith, you add your
repentance, you add your obedience to maintain it, That's not what
happened. He died for your unbelief. He
died for your lack of repentance. He died for your lack of love
for him and love for his father and love for your fellow man.
He died for all of those sins. He died for all of the sins of
all of his people. He's put them all away. That's
what his death is about, brothers and sisters. As the covenant
surety, he must die. That's why the scriptures again
and again talk about his blood being precious, because the blood
speaks of a purchase price. How much did they cost? How much
did the sheep cost? You're not redeemed with corruptible
things. but with the precious blood of
a lamb. He bought the church. He redeemed the church. He paid
the price to set the church free. He ransomed the church. She was
in captivity to Satan and to sin and to the justice and holiness
of God and he ransomed, he paid the price to set them free. He
paid the price. It's the highest cost, the most
precious thing in all of this universe. Nothing is so expensive,
nothing so precious, nothing so effectual. It's the blood
of God that's spilt on Calvary's ground. He will have what he
paid for. If you go to a shop and hand
over your money, do you have the right to take out of the
shop what's yours? You've handed over the money,
you've got the receipt, you've got the thing, is it yours to
take home? Why do we think less of the Lord
Jesus Christ than we do of the most common transaction that
we have all the time? You go and buy a cup of coffee,
take a cup of coffee home, it's yours to drink. No one else has
a right to it. And somehow, somehow the thieves
and robbers have infected this whole world with the notion that
the Lord Jesus Christ died as an attempt to save everyone. What does God say about His Son? He shall not fail nor be discouraged. That's what the resurrection's
about, isn't it? He was put to death because of
our sins and he was raised because of our justification. Therefore,
he says in Romans 5, therefore we have, by faith, we have peace
with God. That's what it is, to be justified. He's made peace through his blood. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device or creed. His words for me shall plead.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that
Jesus died, and that he died for me. He's a smitten shepherd. I lay
down my life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. And he's a resurrected shepherd.
He's a resurrected shepherd. I am the door. If any man enter
in, he shall be saved and shall go out and come in and he shall
find pasture. I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and no one of mine. 15. As the Father knoweth me,
even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Listen to this glorious declaration
in verse 16. Other sheep I have. How long
did he happen for? The Bible tells us over and over
again, He had them from the foundation of the world. They were given
to Him by the Father. What a gift, what a precious
gift these sheep are. The Father's gift to His Son,
the Father entrusted them into the Son's care. Other 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. Therefore doth
my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take
it up together again." He's a resurrected shepherd. It's a very common
thing in our world these days for people to die and their will
to be contested by avarice relations and others, isn't it? The Lord
Jesus Christ died and we read in this book His will and testament.
He's alive. He's alive and sits on the throne
of this universe and he ensures that his will is done, always
done. What's happening in this world?
His will is being done. He's a resurrected shepherd. He knows his sheep by name. He knows his sheep by name and
he calls them to himself. If the sheep go astray, who is
responsible for their return? If the sheep are under attack,
who is responsible? If the sheep are diseased, who
is responsible? If the sheep need nourishment,
who is responsible? taken captive. Who is responsible? David spoke of himself as a shepherd
boy. In 1 Samuel he was asked why
he felt he had the right to go and take on Goliath, mighty Goliath.
And he said, He said, thy servant, he said,
this is David speaking to Saul. He said, thy servant kept his
father's sheep and there came a lion and a bear and took a
lamb out of the flock. And I went after him, and smote
him, and delivered it out of his mouth. 1 Samuel 17. Delivered
it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught
him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. My servant slew
both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine
shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the
living God. The thieves and the robbers defy
the armies of the living God. David said, moreover, the Lord
that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the
paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said unto David, go and the Lord be with you. What
an amazing picture, there's a flock. And a little lamb wanders away
and a lion comes. And David pursues the lion and
rescues the lamb alive. What a glorious picture. We all,
like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his
own way. Gone astray, we've turned each
to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before a shearer's is done, so he opened
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
is cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he'd done no violence,
neither was there any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge. shall my righteous
servant justify many, because he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoiled with
the strong, because he has poured out his soul unto death, and
he was numbered with the transgression, and he bared the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors. What do the children
of God respond? The very next verse. May the
Lord cause us to hear his voice and go away, sing, sing, O barren. Thou that didst not bear, break
forth into singing and cry aloud. For more are the children of
the desolate than the children of the married, saith the Lord. We sing of a shepherd. We sing
of a shepherd who's taken full responsibility and borne our
sins and they're gone. They can't be in two places at
once. And if he's borne them away,
which is what his resurrection so gloriously depicts, they're
gone forever. is the Great Shepherd. His Great
Shepherd, His glory is at stake in the salvation of His sheep.
Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we pray
that you might cause us to hear the Shepherd calling us. again and again and we just keep
going astray our father we just praise you there is a shepherd
there is a good shepherd there is a great and a glorious shepherd
there is a shepherd who has shed his precious blood that his sheep
can be in one fall with him forever and ever and we would hear your voice,
we would do as the people who have always done, they hear it,
and they come, and they believe, and they worship, and they trust
Him, and Him alone is the door of entrance. to heaven. We thank
you, Heavenly Father, and pray you would bless your words to
our hearts and cause us to remember once again our glorious shepherd
and his precious blood. For we pray in his name and for
his glory. Amen.