May it please the Lord to bless
us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let's turn
to the Gospel of John, chapter 10, and we'll read verses 27
and 28. The Gospel of John, chapter 10,
and reading verses 27 and 28. My sheep, hear my voice. and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. In this chapter that we've read
together, the Lord Jesus uses the wonderful illustration of
sheep and a shepherd. And it is so very useful because
throughout the world, most people would be familiar with a picture
of sheep and a picture of the shepherd, leading the sheep and
guiding the sheep and directing the sheep. So therefore it is
something that many people can indeed understand. Here we have
this morning this picture before us and the words of the Saviour
direct to us. We pray that all of us this morning
may realise the wonder of such a statement as we read together
in these two verses. The Lord tells us very clearly,
my sheep hear my voice. And the alternative is obviously
clearly true. If we are not the sheep, that
means if we are not the children of God, then we do not hear the
voice of the Lord Jesus. But how important and how necessary
it is that we are amongst those who do hear the voice of the
Lord Jesus. As we began this chapter, this
10th chapter, the Lord speaks, and he tells us about the shepherd
and what he does, and in the fourth verse we're told, and
when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him for they know his voice. Wonderful truth that
is spiritually. It's also obvious naturally,
a natural shepherd who looks after his sheep. The sheep are
very knowledgeable and they know the voice of their own shepherd
and they hear the voice or they hear shepherd perhaps as he whistles
to attract the sheep and they prick their ears up and they
turn to hear and to see what the shepherd is doing and then
to follow where he goes. It's a wonderful picture of seeing
a shepherd leading his sheep. You see it perhaps more in the
Middle East, I saw it myself when I was over there where the
shepherd with a relatively small flock trying to find suitable
grass, suitable pasture for the little flock and he leads them,
he goes before them and the flock know therefore that where they
are being led is a right direction because they have a history of
the shepherd leading them and bringing them to that place where
they can partake of food. So it's a good thing to have
this illustration before us. And as the Lord goes on to say
in the fifth verse, And a stranger will they not follow, but will
flee from him? For they know not the voice of
strangers. Well, how true that is in a natural
way. And that's why the figure is
so appropriate for us today, but how necessary and how important
it is for us today that we are amongst those who are the blessed
people of God, we might say the blessed sheep of God, who hear
his voice. The Lord speaks previously in
the previous verses Verse 25, the Saviour says, I told you
and you believed not the works that I do in my Father's name.
They bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're
not of my sheep as I said unto you. So it's a very solemn position
really to be in, to be amongst those who do not believe, Because
if we do not believe, we are not of the sheep of God, and
if we are not of the sheep of God, then we do not hear his
voice. What a great blessing it is if
we do hear his voice, because his voice directs us, and his
voice guides us, and his voice brings us by direction into those
places where we shall receive that spiritual food which shall
be good for us. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. Again, a very clear statement,
a very true statement, a very important statement for us to
know that we do indeed follow the Lord. We follow his way,
we don't follow our way. follow that way which the Lord
has ordained. You might say, well, what is
the influence of that? What really makes us do that?
Well, I believe the word of God directs us very clearly. And
we can read in the second Corinthians and the fifth chapter and verses
14, for the love of Christ constrains us. That means if we know something
of Christ's love, then that will constrain us to do his will and
to follow his will. And it will constrain us if we
know his love indeed toward us, the love of Christ. What a great
blessing it is. Like a shepherd, the shepherd
looks after his sheep. My friends, the heavenly shepherd
looks after us. He is with us, directing us to
those places which shall be good and shall be profitable for us. The mercy then to have such a
God. And the apostle goes on to explain
this in some detail in this fifth chapter. He says, because we
thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. And
he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose
again. It is a great and a glorious
truth to know that the Lord Jesus Christ, the savior of the world,
the almighty God himself, came into this world to die for his
sheep, to be a sacrifice for them, to pay the price required
to take away their sin. And that price, of course, was
his own death. This good shepherd who gave his
life, who laid down his life so that there might be life for
his people, for his sheep. And therefore he died for them. Not only did he die for them,
but he rose again a conqueror over sin, death, hell and the
grave. What a wonderful blessing that
is to consider. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. So really comes back to a very
vital and a very important question as to whether you and I have
indeed heard the voice of the Saviour. Indeed, have we heard
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, heard the voice of our beloved,
that one who has spoken to us, that one who has directed us,
that one who has indeed encouraged us, the Lord Jesus Christ. when he was speaking to the people,
and in the Gospel of Matthew, and in the 11th chapter, we come
down to these encouraging words of the Lord Jesus Christ. At
the end of this chapter, he tells us, come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now, a
true believer, comes into a place where they labour, and they're
heavy laden. You may ask, well, what does
that mean? It means they're laden with sin. Sin is a burden. Sin brings us down. And therefore, there's this wonderful
gospel invitation to such, come unto me, no one else, the heavenly
shepherd, Come unto me, speaking to his sheep, all ye that are
laboured and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Yes, what a prospect that is,
to think that there is a rest that remains to the people of
God. And then he encourages us in
following him, this is what he says, take my yoke upon you and
learn of me. Well, do we desire to learn about
the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we desire to learn what he's
done in redeeming our soul? Do we desire to learn the cost
of our redemption? What it costs the Lord Jesus
Christ? Indeed, it cost him his life. And that, of course, a
very painful death is no easy thing. the Saviour entered into
in order to redeem our souls. And so he says, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. That means to be joined to the
Saviour. My sheep, hear my voice. If we are yokes to the Saviour,
we shall hear his voice. If we're not, we shall not hear
his voice. And so this is an encouraging
statement. Come unto me, take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me. The Lord then explains to us
in our spiritual life how we should walk, what we should do,
what we should say, and what a privilege it is to learn of
the Saviour because we have his great and glorious example before
us. learn of me. How much we have
to learn, how much we should desire to do in following the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, I know them and
they follow me. There is no alternative. It is a great truth Those who
do hear the Saviour's voice, because it is a glorious voice,
it is a voice of hope, it is a voice of mercy, it is a voice
of love. What a great and blessed voice
it is to hear and therefore take my yoke upon you and learn of
me. The tendency is to think that
such an operation will be very difficult. and very hard and
very painful for us. Well, that's not so. The Saviour
tells us, He says, and learn of me for I am meek and lowly
in heart. That means the Lord comes down
to our level. He knows where we are. He knows
what we need. He knows what instruction we
need. He knows how we need to learn.
The Lord comes down to that level, meek and lowly in heart. That's very wonderful. If you
just ponder that, to think of the great God, the great God,
the second person in the Trinity, the one who created all things,
tells us this. He says, learn of me for I am
meek and lowly in heart. Comes down where we are. And
it says, and we shall find rest unto your souls. You may perhaps
be very restless. This is a restless world. And
if we just stay occupied with the things of this world, it
will be very restless. But what a blessing it is to
find rest unto our souls. That means to have the evidence
in our hearts that we have heard the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have heard the voice of our
beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he concludes by encouraging
us with these words, for my yoke is easy. and my burden is light. These are the words of the Saviour. My friends, the Lord never tells
a lie. You can believe, you can rest
assured that this statement is so very true. And therefore this
glorious word of invitation to us, come unto me, so that we
may come to the Lord and then hear his voice my sheep, do hear
my sheep, hear my voice and I know them. You see the Lord knows
who are his. There's no one who comes to the
Saviour who is not known by the Saviour. The Lord knows who are
his. from eternity past. Again, that's
a mystery, that's a truth, which is really beyond our natural
comprehension. But my friends, it is so very
gloriously true. And what a comfort and what a
blessing, surely, such a position is for us today, as we're journeying
on through life to realize that our heavenly shepherd, the Lord
Jesus Christ, knows all about us. And therefore, he does speak,
he does encourage, he does correct whatever we need in our little
life. Here below, the Lord doesn't
cast us off. He doesn't forget about us. He's
very mindful of us. And he remembers us in our lowest
state. For his mercy endureth forever. You know, there will be that
spiritual desire. The Lord has touched our hearts,
first of all, to show us our lost state, our ruined state,
because of our sin. Because sin has separated between
us and our God. And what a separation that is.
Unless that sin is removed, there will be eternal separation. And that's a terrible thought,
isn't it? To think to be separated eternally from God. But if the
blessed Lord has indeed directed us to observe and to understand
our sinful condition before a holy and righteous God, and showed
us that we've sinned against God, and caused us then to consider
our ways, brought us to that place of true godly sorrow for
our sin. It's not just a mere acknowledgement
of it, it's a true sorrow for our sin and a repentance because
of that sin and then to seek unto our God that he will graciously
come and speak to us and encourage us my sheep hear my voice and
I know them and they follow me. So wonderfully true that these
things they flow together as we by the grace of God are spoken
to by the Saviour. It's because He knows us, because
we are His children, we are His sheep. He's watching over us,
He's directing us, He's guiding us through this world with all
the obstacles and difficulties and trials and temptations. The Lord has said He will never
leave us nor forsake us as we travel through this world. and
I know them, and they follow me. Well, naturally, the sheep
do follow their shepherd. And spiritually, the children
of God do follow the Lord Jesus Christ. They desire to hear his
voice. They desire to be with him. They
desire to be directed by him. And so what a mercy and what
a blessing it is. Well, perhaps You know, in our
lives, we understand what Peter tells us. For ye were a sheep
going astray. We may have wandered away from
the Lord. But then Peter says, but now,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Well, You and I will know in
our little life whether we have been like sheep, gone astray,
have not followed the shepherd, but followed our own little course
in our life, followed that way which we wanted to engage in. But what a mercy, what a blessing,
if by the grace of God we can now say, but, are now returned
unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. The Lord has graciously
drawn us to himself, drawn us to himself. It is a great mercy
to be drawn to the Saviour. The Song of Solomon gives us
a little insight to the truth of these things and he tells
us because the first chapter the second third verse because
of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured
forth therefore to the virgins lovely draw me we will run after
thee King hath brought me into his chambers, we will be glad
and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine,
the upright love thee. You know it's a mercy then to
understand something of the truth of these words and of course
the Song of Solomon directs us so clearly to the love of Christ
as the heavenly bridegroom, to his church as the bride, and
the response also of the bride to the Savior. You see, there
is that reciprocation when the Lord shows us and brings about
into our heart his love, and that love so great that he was
willing to die for us and did die for us. then you see that
will draw us to him, to realise we have such a great and glorious
saviour who was so willing to redeem us. Unworthy sinners as
we are, with nothing naturally to attract us, nothing of any
esteem in ourselves, but it is because of a love the Saviour. It is because of the blessing
of the Saviour. When the Lord comes and touches
our heart and draws us to him, we will understand that this
is the voice of the Saviour speaking to us. And the words that He
speaks, we're told in the 16th verse, the last verse, the fifth
chapter of the Song of Solomon, His mouth is most sweet. The words that flow from the
mouth of the Saviour are sweet to us, to rejoice in those words
of forgiveness, in those words of love, those words perhaps
of correction, which had brought us back from that way which was
far from God. His mouth is most sweet, yea,
he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. You know, the Church of God,
the daughters of Jerusalem had asked her, what is thy beloved
more than another beloved? Why is your beloved so special? Why is it? Well, what a mercy,
if in our little lives, if we should be asked such a question
as that, what is thy beloved more than another beloved, O
thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than
another beloved that thou dost so charge us? And then to be
able to give a good description of what Christ means to us, and
be able to conclude by saying, this is my beloved and this is
my friend. Oh, daughters of Jerusalem, what
a friend we have in Jesus. What a glorious friend as our
heavenly shepherd, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and
they follow me. So let us be quite clear here. Therefore, that all of God's
people hear his voice. My sheep hear my voice. That's a very clear statement,
isn't it? Therefore, we shouldn't think
that we can just go right through life without hearing the voice
of the Saviour. And what a wonderful evidence
it is of the life of God in our souls, when the Lord communicates
to us by speaking to us, directing us. It's the evidence that the
Lord is mindful of us. He hasn't cast us off as we deserve. We haven't been put on the rubbish
dump as we deserve, but he looked upon us and has set his love
upon us and has demonstrated and showed his love to us by
speaking to us. My sheep hear my voice. What
a mercy it is then to have a God like that. A God of love. A God who does not deal with
us as our sins deserve. Now this God also is a God of
peace. And in the Hebrews, the 13th
chapter and the 20th verse, we can read this truth. Now, the
God of peace that brought again the dead, our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. That's a very clear and important
statement for us, isn't it? This great shepherd of the sheep,
20th verse of the 13th Hebrews, the great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant, the only way you and
I can be brought to God is through his shed blood on
Calvary that was so needful in order to redeem our souls without
shedding of blood There's no forgiveness. Yes, we are totally
dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ, paying the price to redeem
our souls from the power of the devil. It is through his sin
atoning blood. And what does that bring about?
Well, it's the voice of the Lord Jesus It's the voice of the beloved,
and it sets forth so clearly in this way, the peace of God
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he
rose a conqueror. He conquered sin, death, hell,
and the grave. And without that, there would
be no hope for us. We would be eternally lost. And
so this morning, can we indeed praise our God that we have such
a savior, who has graciously left on record such a wonderful
account as we have in this 10th chapter to encourage us Because
again, as he confirms it, I am the good shepherd, and know my
sheep, and have known of mine. You see, there is that union.
There is that knowledge, that two-way the Lord knows us, and
by his grace, we know him. Well, this morning, may we be
able to trace out in our heart whether we know the Lord Jesus
Christ, whether we have indeed heard his voice, or whether we
do rejoice in it. What a mercy it is. Now, the
effect will be, as the Lord tells us here, and they follow me really
confirms that which we can read in Matthew chapter 16 where the
Lord Jesus again speaks in verse 24 he said then Jesus said if
any man will come after me that means if any man will follow
me this is what we're told let him deny himself what does that
mean that means we're not to please ourselves so easily we
can please ourselves. No, says the Lord, if any man
will come after me, if any man will follow me, then it's to
be in this way we are to deny ourselves and we are to take
up our cross. Yes, the Lord has ordained that
you and I should walk a path in this world, a path that will
bring honour and glory to our God. not a path that brings honor
and glory to ourselves. We are called to serve our God. We are called to follow Him. We are called to bring honor
and glory to our God. And what a wonderful blessing.
What a wonderful favor it is. And you know, it'll be a joy
and it will be a pleasure because we love the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Exodus, there
was the law and the ceremonial law set forth, and there was
also the time of jubilee when there was to be that freedom
of servants and people that had been taken, perhaps captive,
and then had been made willing to serve their master. And then when the time came to
set them free, some people were set free, and some did not want
to be set free. And we can read in the Exodus
21, verse 5 and 6, and this is what he said, and it's very interesting
and very important. And if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go
out free. Then his master shall bring him
unto the judges. He should also bring him to the
door, or unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear
through with an oar. and he shall serve him forever. Well, you see there, there is
that love to the master. Surely it has exactly the same
application for us today. The love to the saviour. We don't want to go out. We don't
want to join the world. We don't want to go away. We
want to stay with the saviour. We want to stay with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And therefore, in this case,
in the Old Testament, there was this very clear evidence that
this person was to live forever with his master. And it was done
by boring through the ear, and that was against the doorpost
with the oar. And what an evidence there was
then. There was a positive evidence which wasn't removed. What a
mercy. in our lives today. If we have
that positive evidence that you and I desire to truly be with
the Lord and to follow him, my sheep hear my voice and I know
them and they follow me. And then the Lord goes on, and
I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand." What a wonderful,
glorious promise that is. Well, first of all, we can never
deserve the wonderful blessing of eternal life. We can never
live a life which is adequate to bring us a reward of eternal
life, because sin is mixed with all we do. that here we have
the words of the Saviour. He comes and He gives freely. I give unto them eternal life,
those for whom the Lord has spoken, those for whom they have heard
His voice, and those who have followed Him. This is the wonderful
blessing granted as such. and I will give unto them eternal
life. This so far exceeds anything
that you and I can receive in this world. We may work hard
and very hard to obtain this and to obtain that, but you see
all the things that we have obtained in this life perish with the
using. They will not live forever. They
will all fade away, but Eternal life is something which never
disappears. It is eternal. And it is, of
course, to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a gift which
we receive, not because we deserve it, but because we receive it
with a wonderful love of God. It's really all because of his
wonderful love to us. The Lord gives us this grace
and glorious gift of eternal life. Indeed, the Apostle Paul,
when he wrote to the Romans, in the end of the sixth chapter,
he tells us, for the wages of sin is death. That means all
the things that we perhaps desire naturally in this life. There's
nothing of any benefit. The payment for that is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life. Of course, the apostle
tells us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's only given by
the Savior, not something that you're given by anyone else.
is the gracious prerogative of Almighty God to give to an elect
number, a chosen number, chosen in God before the world began
to give this wonderful gift of eternal life. What a comfort,
what a strength that is for our souls. As we journey on, as we
have the evidence that we hear the voice of Jesus speaking to
us, and you and I will know when the Lord has spoken, when he
has come to us, when he has called us out of the darkness of nature
into the glorious light of the gospel, all things have become
new. There's been a great change,
a great change in our lives. It's brought about the blessed
work of the Holy Spirit. It's all through the wonderful
finished work of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We hear
his voice, he knows us, we follow him, he gives unto us this great
and glorious gift of eternal life. It's a gift so valuable,
so great, our natural minds can really not appreciate it. because
it is something which will never end. It's a gift, a gift which
is eternal life, eternal life. What a blessing given to the
sheep of God, given to his people. And therefore he tells us, and
they shall never perish, never perish. No, because we are safe. We are eternally safe because
the Lord Jesus Christ has paid the price to take away our sins,
every sin, every sin, however big, however small, however terrible,
he's paid that price. And the cost of that price was
his life. Let us never underestimate the
cost of our salvation. Let us praise God. Let us thank
him. Let us rejoice in this great
salvation. Let us indeed praise him for
the wonderful favor of receiving this gift of eternal life and
to know, therefore, that if we received it, we are eternally
blessed. And therefore, there's no possibility
of perishing. And yet all those who are outside
of this gift would indeed perish eternally in hell. What a terrible, terrible thought
that is. And yet those who are safe in
the arms of Jesus will never perish, and will never perish,
and neither shall any man pluck them out of God's hands. Yes, there is complete safety. How encouraging that should be,
to recognize the complete safety. Safety in Christ, safety indeed. Back in the Old Testament, there
was the occasion in Elijah's day, when he thought he was the
only one left, well, he was wrong, of course, there were many thousands,
but nonetheless, he thought he was the only one who had not
bowed the knee to Baal. And there was that great decision
on Mount Carmel to decide who was the true God. And Elijah faced the people And
he posed this great question to them. He said, how long, Hort
G, between two opinions? How long, Hort G, between two
opinions? There were those who were desiring
to follow the Lord, and all those followers of Baal who did not. And so he comes and tells them,
if the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. Well, the people were silent. But what a blessing it was when
the Lord appeared for Elijah and heard his prayer and consumed
the sacrifice and burnt up the altar and the water And the statement
was then, the Lord, he is the God. Well, may it be our favour
and our privilege to be found amongst those who are truly following
this great eternal blessing, God, and follow me. Because if God gives us grace,
so to do, then we are blessed with this wonderful gift of eternal
life and to know we should never perish and that no one will be
able to pluck us out of the hand of God. Oh friends, the hand
of God is so strong, so glorious, so firm, it holds us tight and
we should be very, very thankful for that great and wonderful
truth. Well you know the The wonderful
truth is, continuing that same theme really, Peter tells us,
and when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away. As the things of time fade, natural
crowns disappear. But the crown of glory that God
gives us to wear eternally is for all those who are blessed
to hear this glorious voice of the Saviour, and directing them
to follow Him and by His grace, they choose rather, as Moses,
to suffer affliction for the people of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. Well, may we indeed know the
glorious blessing of God and be able to confirm the words
that the Psalmist wrote in the 107th Psalm, he led them forth
by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. For may we each be found journeying
in this right way to this city of habitation, glorious place
in heaven with a saviour and with a whole church of God forever. It is a wonderful prospect. And it is that prospect which
is set before us here really, in this verse. And may we find
and know and have the evidence that you and I are one of the
sheep of Christ, one of the children of God, one whom the Lord Jesus
Christ has died for, to take away all our sins and spoken
to our souls, and we have the evidence therefore that we are
the possessors of this great and glorious gift of eternal
life, and therefore we shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck us out of the hand of a saviour. Amen.