Or if you take your Bibles and
turn with me to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. And it's titled this, The Five
Characters of the Good Shepherd. Five characters in the Good Shepherd.
This parable, there are five characters here. And I want us
to see each one as they are presented by our Lord Jesus Christ. The
Scripture says, I'll read verses 1-6 again to you, it says, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a
thief and a robber. There's your first character.
The thief and the robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. There's two more characters here
The door and the shepherd. The door and the shepherd. And
so then in verse 3, it said, to him, to the shepherd, the
porter openeth the door. And the sheep hear his voice,
and he calls his own sheep by name, and he leadeth them out.
There's the last one, the sheep. The sheep are in this parable. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. Stranger they will not follow,
but will flee from Him, for they know not the voice of strangers.
This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not
what things they were. He spake to them." Now, our Lord,
again, before this, and these chapter divisions sometimes are
good for us in reference, but they're not good sometimes in
that we miss the things that flow from this. And if you were
to take that chapter division out, it would be better, I believe,
here. Because our Lord had just again proved His deity. He had
proved His deity by healing that man that was born blind. And what a picture this is of
our salvation. Our Lord never did a miracle
that was not intended to preach the Gospel to us. And He takes
this man that was born blind. He comes to this man. He heals
him. And this is a picture of how
He saves us. We were born blind. We were born
blind. But in grace, Christ comes and
opens our eyes to our sin, And we are led to Christ by the
Holy Spirit. And look at this in verse 35
of the previous chapter. Remember they had kicked him
out. That religious crowd. That's what happens when a man
is saved, isn't it? Religious crowd just kicks him out. That's
the best thing for him. He didn't think he was the best.
He was upset. He was sad. He didn't have any
way. He thought that was the only
way to God, going through that way. And Christ is going to teach
you something else. And Jesus heard they cast him
out. When He found him, He said to him, Dost thou believe on
the Son of God? And he answered, Who is He? Lord,
that I might believe on Him. And Jesus said unto him, Listen,
thou hast both seen Him. Isn't that something? This man
was just now healed of his sight. You see Him. And listen, it's
the One talking to you. It's the One speaking to you.
And He said, Lord, I believe. And He worshipped Him. When this
man was exposed of his sin, he was cast out, cursed and shut
out from the worship of God. It's then that sinners, Christ
comes to sinners as the object of His grace. When we've got
nothing else. This is when Christ comes to
us. When we have no one else. The law has kicked us out. We
have no means to come to God by the law. It's then we are
alone. It's then we are exposed. And it's then Christ comes and
preaches the gospel. And what is the gospel? Himself. He says, I'm the Son of God.
Do you believe on the Son of God? Lord, who is He? What a question. What a good
question. What do God's sinners would ask that question? Seems
like in our day, everybody seems to think they know Him. Who is
He, Lord? He said, I'm the one. You've
seen Him and He's the one that talketh with you. He reveals the gospel, the Son
of God, the Son of Man, the only mediator for sinners. Verse 39,
Jesus said, For judgment I am coming to the world. This is
the gospel, listen to this. For judgment I am coming to the
world. That, for this purpose, they
which see not, might see. And they which see, might be
made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said to him, Are we blind
also? Boy, that's offensive, isn't
it? They were offended at that. They knew exactly what he was
saying. This man, he was blind, but now
he sees. And you think you see, but you're
blind. He said, We blind? He said, Listen,
if you were blind, if you were blind, you should have no sin. But now you say, we see, therefore
your sin remaineth." Jesus said, for judgment I've come. What
does that mean, for judgment I've come? I have come to satisfy
judgment. I have come to satisfy the justice
of God for the sins of my people. And He describes His people.
They are blind. My people are blind. I came so
that they that are blind might see." Listen, if you've never
been blind, you've never been given sight. You hear somebody say, well,
I've been saved all my life. I tell you, that's too long.
That's too long. At one point, you had to be blind
or you're not saved. I came to give sight to those
that are blind. And as we should see in our parable
today, God has a people. Christ came for judgment to save
His people, His elect. And this parable we're going
to see that His elect people are represented here. Those Christ
came to save and give life to them. But these sheep are seen in a certain condition. They
see not. They cannot see or receive the things of God, but His purpose
for dying is that they which see not should see, should believe. And these Pharisees, they were
self-righteous. They were self-righteous men.
They were not blind. They thought themselves to be
sight. They thought they had understanding, not knowing altogether that they
were blind. He said, Are we blind also? Look,
if you were blind, then should you see. Then should your sin
be gone. But you say you're righteous.
You say you can be accepted by your obedience to God. They believe
that they were accepted of God by their own righteousness. Therefore,
they will never see their need of Christ. As now then, at that
point, at this point, Jesus enters into this parable. Now this parable,
what is a parable? It is a very simple earthly illustration. And we've never been shepherds. I don't know, anybody been a
shepherd? None of us here have been shepherds, but when He said
this to those people, they understood every bit of this. This was common. This was something that everyone
could understand physically. But He says at the end in verse
6, they did not understand. Why? Because they were not able
to see or apply it spiritually. Because that's what it was intended.
It's an earthly thing that intends a spiritual truth. And like I
said, there are five characters here. Five characters. First
of all, the thieves and robbers. And in the last place, the strangers.
That's all the same. The second is the door. The third
is the shepherd. The fourth is the porter. And
the fifth is the sheep. And I want us to go over each
one of these and see as Christ explains them to us. First of
all, thieves and robbers. These are mentioned in verse
1, 8, 10, and 12. In verse 1, He says, He that
entereth not in by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up
some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. Verse 8, All that
ever came before me are thieves and robbers, and the sheep did
not hear them. Verse 10, The thief cometh not
but to steal and kill and destroy. And in verse 12, he says, "...but
he that is in the hireling is not the shepherd." Same thing.
He doesn't have any care for the sheep. He only is there for
the money. He's only there to rob. He's not there to care for
the sheep. These are thieves and robbers.
Now no doubt the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking then directly to
these Pharisees. These men that sought to be saved
and accepted by their own obedience. You know, the Apostle Paul describes
these. He says, My brethren, after the flesh, he says, I bear
them record, they have a zeal. These men, by appearance, they
appeared to be the most holy men. They appeared, if there
were anybody going to be accepted, these men appeared to be the
ones to be accepted. He said, I bear them record,
they have a zeal, but not according to knowledge. Now, what was the
thing that made them ignorant? He said they went about to establish
their own righteousness. That's what is proof of a man's
spiritual ignorance. If you are going about to establish
your own righteousness, you are ignorant of the righteousness
of God. You don't understand. You say
you see, but you are blind. You cannot see the truth. And it says in this picture of
the parable, these men said a man, a shepherd, whose
own the sheep are, he's got this fenced area. Consider this picture
now that there's a fenced area inside this walled fence. There's
the sheep. They're in there. And you look
down the wall and you see a couple of fellas trying to climb over
the wall. You see a couple of fellas trying
to dig under the wall. You know immediately those guys
don't belong there. You know immediately that they
are thieves and robbers. Otherwise, what? They'd come
by the door. They'd come in the front. They
wouldn't have to sneak around to the back. These are thieves
and robbers. And so in a spiritual sense of
the parable, all who seek to come to God by some other way
than Christ, are thieves and robbers. Now what are they robbing? They are robbing God of His glory. When Adam sinned, you make no
mistake about it, Adam sought to rob God of His glory. God said, don't. And Adam said, I will. and he
robbed God of what was his. He told Adam, you can have every
tree in this garden. It's all yours. One belongs to
me. And Adam robbed God after his
own lust. And so it is when men seek to
come to God by any other means, they rob God of His glory. Friends, listen, there's only
one way to God. There's only one way by which
the sheep, the elect, the redeemed of Christ come to God, and it
is by Jesus Christ. That's it. It's a very narrow
way, isn't it? And what I mean by narrow is
this, it's singular. There is no other way. There
is no other way. Only through faith in Christ,
without the deeds of the law, only by the righteousness of
God imputed and imparted to sinners, the righteousness of Christ,
may we be accepted of God. Now these men, when they come
this way, I want you to know this, they don't care anything
for the sheep or the shepherd. If a man's coming into your house
and breaking in to steal your stuff, he doesn't care about
you, Your family, your needs are what he's stealing. He only
cares about himself. And that's what religious men
do. They only care about themselves. They don't care about Christ.
They don't care about the gospel or God's people. They seek only to profit from
the sheep. Free will works religion. They're
nothing more than hirelings, friend. They seek nothing more,
as Paul said, to make merchandise of your souls. That's it. The Apostle Peter said this.
In 2 Peter 2 and verse 1, he says, And there shall be false
prophets among the people, even there shall be false teachers
among you, who privately... They don't do this openly. They
acknowledge some things you're going to say. They'll nod their
heads to some doctrines of grace, but privately. Privately, they'll bring in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them. They profess
Christ that bought them, but really when they believe such
foolishness of salvation by man's works or man's will, they deny
Him. They deny the sufficiency of
His blood. That's what happened. When you
add anything to Christ, you are denying the sufficiency of His
work, saying, He did this much, but I'm doing what's left over. They deny Him that bought them
and bring unto them swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of. I'll tell you this, men of this
world hear what we're saying, we will be evil spoken of. Go
ahead, tell them. Tell your friends. Tell your
family. The salvation is only by grace
without the will and works of man, and see what they say. You
will be evil spoken of. He already testifies of this,
and through covetousness shall they with fain words make merchandise
of you. whose judgment now for a long
time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." So
who are thieves and robbers? Anybody that decides to come
to God in any other way but Christ and Christ alone. Anyone who
would add their works, their will, their religious ceremonies
to the work of Jesus Christ is a thief and a robber. And you
know what? Sheep don't hear them. Do you
hear them? I don't listen. I don't care
to hear them. Matter of fact, we flee from them. We flee from
them. Secondly, the second character
is the door. The door. Now go back to this.
And He said, He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd
of the sheep. And in verse 7, we see this plainly. Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door. I am the door. Behold, the sheepfold is fenced
in on all sides and yet there is one opening. Picture it in
your mind. You see the walled fence. You
see all around the sheep are inside of this fenced area and
there is only one entrance. Only one door by which the sheep
may come in and go out. And Jesus said, The door. Now, what is the purpose of a
door? I'll try to be as simple as I
can. The purpose of the door is, first of all, when a door
is shut, what does it do? It keeps out and it keeps in.
Isn't that right? When a door is shut, it keeps
out and it keeps in. And secondly, when the door opens,
it reveals whatever is standing there. Right? The door is closed,
Scott's standing on the outside of the door, I don't know, he's
out there opening the door, and hey, there's Scott. If the door's
open, it reveals what's there. And so, let's see it by this
means. First of all, the shut door. Before the fall, there was no
revelation given to any of the creatures of God concerning the
salvation God purposed. Angels knew nothing about it.
And when Adam was in the garden, he knew nothing about it. Before sin came into the world,
no one knew but God. No one knew but God. Adam knew
only the holiness by obedience. He didn't know anything of salvation
by grace. Salvation of sinners by Christ
was not, friends, plan B. I want you to know that. It was
not God's plan B. It was hidden, though it was
hidden. It was not known, yet God from
eternity purposed to save an elect people by the blood and
righteousness of His Son. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. See if this is so. Look at verse
6. The apostle says this, how be
it? We speak wisdom among them that are perfect, those that
are believers, those that are mature. He said, yet not the
wisdom of this world nor the prince of this world that come
to nothing. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. You see, this
mystery, this gospel, it was a hidden thing. It was the hidden
wisdom of God. It was ordained for our glory. You who are believers in Christ,
this gospel, this purpose of God was ordained for your glory
before the world began. And listen, which none of the
princes of the world knew. Listen, the most religious scholars,
they knew nothing of this. They knew nothing of this. For if they had known it, They
surely wouldn't have crucified Christ. Isn't that right, these
Pharisees? If they'd known this, you think
they'd have crucified Him? No. But as it is written, I hath
not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man
the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. Listen.
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit
of God searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God,
only the elect. Only those who believe on Christ. We know
and understand this mystery of God because it was given to us. It was given to us to understand
that our salvation did not begin with our faith. Isn't that right? Our salvation began a long time
ago. It began in eternity. It was
planned, purposed. and purchased long before we
ever knew it. It's called the hidden wisdom
of God which God ordained for our glory before the world began. So in our parable, see this,
the shut door. See that all the sheep, all the
church of God, all the elect of God were from the beginning
shut up in Christ. Kept. In Christ. In union with
Christ. Shut in. Protected. Kept. God had purposed your salvation
before the world began and in sovereign grace, all that the
Father loved, He put into union with Christ. The Father gave
these sheep unto Christ. He says in our text, I think
it's in verse 29, My Father which gave them Me, these sheep, He
gave them to Christ, is greater than all. He gave them to His
Son. The door of the Gospel then was
opened before, the Gospel door was opened long before we ever
heard the Shepherd's voice. So God had purposed to make Christ
our Good Shepherd, and that His sheep should be saved by Him. He said that in 1 Corinthians
1, in verse 30, He says, But of God are you in Christ Jesus. You were in the fold long before
you even were called. You were chosen. You were given
to Christ. and He was your Shepherd from
eternity. Even though the door was not
yet open, you did not know, it was not yet revealed to you,
yet you were His. But of God are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. For what reason that He that
glorieth let Him glory in the Lord. Behold then that man Jacob,
What an illustration of this is seen in that Romans 9, where
it says that the children, not yet being born, neither having
done good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. As it is written, Jacob have I love, but Esau have
I hate. The Word tells us that long before
His birth, God loved Him, God chose Him, God ordained Him to
eternal life. And so then all the church of
God, by the grace of God, were shut into union with Christ.
Now consider this. Was there any way that we should
be taken from that? No. Just as much as that door
was closed, There was no one could enter in to remove us.
Safe. They were safe in there. Scott, was there any chance you
would die before Christ came to you? Any chance at all? No. This is what we call pervenient
grace. The grace that goes before grace. It keeps you alive until the
day of your conversion. This is what God has sworn. All
that the Father giveth me, Christ said this, they shall come to
me. Why? Because they were chosen. They were loved. You were loved. Even before you knew, you were
loved. You were loved. Before you loved,
you were loved. And so then the next thing you
know is the open door. The door has another function,
it opens. This hidden wisdom of God, this sovereign election
of God, which God chose the sheep and gave them to Christ, that
in and of itself is not salvation. That is unto salvation. That
is unto salvation. Now we know this, that they are
as good as saved. In the mind and purpose of God.
We have to see things orderly, don't we? We have to see things
in sequence and so forth, but God is... Can you understand eternity?
We say eternity past. Really, is there such a thing?
We just have to say it because we can't wrestle any other way.
Can't figure it out. But our salvation was purposed
of God, it was purchased of Christ before it was actually accomplished.
But we can't say we were saved, right? Even though you were in
Christ, even though Christ had already purchased your salvation,
you couldn't say I was saved. You were lost! You were lost. But this election and redemption
was always unto salvation. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. We are
bound always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. And why are we giving thanks? Because God hath from
the beginning chosen you, listen, to salvation. Now is there any
chance you're going to miss it? I remember J.D. giving this, J.D. Farmer, giving his testimony
as he and his brother stood outside that old church building there
on Cleveland Boulevard. You'll know how dark it was there.
I mean, that place looked foreboding at nighttime. Those big old red
stained glass windows kind of look like eyes looking at you.
It was just not inviting. And him and his brother out there
doing rock, paper, scissors to see if they were going to go
in. I don't know who won or who lost, but they came in. And he
kept thinking, what if I had not come in? I said, is there
any chance you would have missed it? No, because you were ordained
to salvation. It says this election was to
salvation and the means through sanctification of the Spirit,
through the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit creating in
you a new and holy nature and what's the result of that? Belief
of the truth. And what's the means? Through
the preaching of our gospel. And when sin entered in the world,
you remember this, when sin entered in the world, it was then the
door was opened. Isn't that right? All things
were hidden until when? Until sin entered in and then
Adam was given the first gospel message. The door was opened
then. It was then that God opened the
door and revealed His purpose, the way of salvation. It was
then He began to point sinners to His Son. But this salvation,
though promised and by faith believed, yet our salvation was
not accomplished until Christ came and actually fulfilled it."
You see, they were looking forward to His coming. And by faith,
they received what He was going to do. We, by faith, now receive
what He has done. What He has done. And when he
did it, listen to this, I want you to understand that when he
did it, salvation was accomplished. The work was finished. Though
we had not yet experienced it, the work was done. The door was
opened. The way that leads to eternal
life was revealed. Look at this again in verse 7,
Jesus in our text, back there, Jesus said, I am the door of
the sheep. All that came before me are thieves
and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If any man enter in, he might be saved. Is that what
it says? Well, he may, if he does well,
If he enters in and starts to do better, no, he shall be saved. I love our Lord's definite language. It doesn't mince words, does
it? He shall be saved. And he shall
go in and out and find pasture. Are there any sinners Any man
here who needs to be saved? If you need to be saved, this
is a good verse. It's a very instructive verse,
isn't it? I'm the door. If any man enter
in by this door, he shall be saved. He shall be saved. The Pharisees, they would not
be saved. Even because they did not think
they needed it. This is why men won't come to
Christ, you know that? They don't need Him. They have
no need of Him. This is why men won't come. And
so it is with all thieves and robbers. Jesus told them in that verse
I just read to you from John chapter 9, He said, look, if
you were blind, you'd have no sin. If you would just confess
that you're blind, confess that you have no righteousness, confess
that you have no way to God, then you should have no sin. And you got that, you that have
entered in by this door, I want you to hear that. You have no
sin. Are you blind? Yeah? I need Him. You have no sin. Come in by the door. You have
no sin. But because you continue to say, I see. He will not confess
your need. He said, therefore your sin remaineth. But the gospel is for the blind. The gospel is for the sinner.
The gospel is for the guilty man who cannot save himself. And Jesus says to this man, I
am the door. Come in by me and you will be
saved. You shall be saved. What good is the door if you
don't use it? I know this. Many men, they come
to the door, come to Christ and they measure it. They admire
it. They look at it. They study it.
They read and they study about Christ and they study about doctrine.
You know what? And they never enter in. A lot
of people know a lot about Jesus and still will not come in. What
good is the door if you don't use it? You must come in. You must come in. Come in to
God by Christ alone and be accepted. Come by faith and receive Christ and you shall
be saved. Notice I said receive Him, not
accept Him. As many as received Him, to them
gave He the right to become the sons of God. That's a very important
word. Acceptance has to do with equals. I want you to understand
that. Acceptance has to do with equals. If I offer you something,
right? The reception of it, the acceptance
of it is predicated on you. But on the other hand, if we
are not equal, You are starving to death. You are impoverished
and cannot buy bread. And yet I give you bread. Do
you suppose you would deny it? Do you suppose you would say,
well, let me see if I accept it or not? No, a starving man
has no choice. A starving man has no other alternative
but to receive. And so we receive Him. And as
many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the
sons of God. That's what it is to enter this
door. It is to receive Him. It is to believe Him. It is to
trust Him. It is to abandon all self-righteousness
and come to Christ alone. Have you come to Christ alone? With nothing? Nothing but my
sin. That's all I have. All I have
is my sin. Come in. Come in. That's who
He came to save. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. That's all I got. Come in. I've got nothing else. I've got
nothing but to buy this. Oh, everyone that thirsts it.
Come ye to the waters. Come buy wine and milk without
money, without price. Wherefore do you spend your money?
For that would satisfyeth not. Jesus is the door. The third
one is the porter. Porter. Who is this? Go back
to your text here. And he says in verse 3, To him
the porter openeth. Porter. Porter is one who would
stand at the door. Basically, he was himself the
gatekeeper of this. And no one was allowed into the
sheep except for one person, the shepherd. He was the guard
of the door. No one but the shepherd was allowed
in to call his sheep. He was responsible to keep the
door and only open it for the shepherd. This is a picture.
This quarter pictures both, I believe, both the Father and the Spirit. Both the Father and the Spirit
both testified that Christ is the Shepherd. Both of them. Now
the Holy Spirit, being the author of the Scriptures, He constantly,
throughout the Scriptures, pictures and prophesies that Christ Jesus
is the anointed Shepherd of God. You remember when the Lord Jesus
Christ rose again from the dead, He said, He began to teach them,
He said, beginning at Moses and all the prophets. He expounded
unto them in all the Scriptures, what? How to live a good life. Is that what He expounded to
them? How to have a good financial portfolio. Is that what He expounded
to them? How to be a good person and obey
the law. Is that what He expounded? No.
He expounded unto them the things concerning Himself. The Holy
Spirit is the porter. And He says, this is the Christ. No one else but Jesus could ever
fulfill all of those prophecies in the Old Testament except Christ.
Except Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He's the only one. He was the only one born of a
virgin. Holy Spirit said he would be. So the porter examines and
says, okay, if this is the Christ, he must be born of a virgin.
He must be God manifest in the flesh. Unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a son is given. What is he testifying? His deity
and his humanity. That God would come in the flesh. The Spirit of God testified always
of Christ. That He was the only sinless
man. I think it's in Isaiah 42. It says that He shall magnify
the law and make it honorable. Who else magnified the law and
made it honorable but Christ? You see the Spirit testifying
of Him? Testifying that this is the Christ. He testified in
Isaiah 53 and verse 11 that the justice of God should be satisfied
by Him. He shall see of the travail of
His soul and be satisfied. And not only when He came into
this world, not only did the Holy Spirit testify of Him in
all the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit as the porter testified
of Him in the Scriptures, but the Father also testified of
Him. Remember what He said on the
Mount of Transfiguration. He said, This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. God the Father testified of Him
to be the only Savior, the only Mediator. Behold, the only One that all
the Scriptures, all the Porter, the Holy Spirit testifies of
is Jesus Christ. I'll tell you another way that
God the Father testified of Him was He raised Him from the dead.
How do you know this was the Christ? God raised Him from the
dead. God raised Him from the dead.
How do you know His blood was sufficient? How do you know He's
the door? How do you know He's the only
way to God? God testified of Him when He raised Him from the
dead. Testified of His success. I think
it's in Acts chapter 2 and verse 24, it says, when God raised
Him up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible.
What holds a man in the grave? Sin. Sin. That's why there's death. What is he testifying of by raising
him from the dead? There is no more sin. That's
what he's testifying of. He's saying his sacrifice was
perfect. I testify that this is the shepherd. So God says to the sinner, this
is my son. See that His one offering was
perfect and so thorough. You understand that His offering
was so thorough, so complete with regard to every detail. His death was not superficial
or partial. That all the sins for which He
suffered are completely removed forever. This is what God testified of
Him. God the Spirit is the porter that testifies of Christ. He
testifies this, that He is the Good Shepherd. This is the fourth
one, the Good Shepherd. Behold, Jesus says this, He's
not only the door, but He is the Good Shepherd. Look at this in verse 11. He says, I am the Good Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd giveth
His life for the sheep. When God the Holy Spirit comes
in power to save sinners, He sends forth a preacher to declare
the Gospel. And we declare this to everyone.
I tell this to everyone. That Christ is the only way to
God. And the door is open. The door
is open. Scripture says, in that day,
there's a fountain open. I tell you right now, there's
a fountain open. I tell you it's for the elect, but I don't know
who they are. I just don't. How many times have you been
wrong about that? You thought somebody was one of God's people
and then, where'd they go? They're gone. I know it's for God's elect,
but I know this, it's for a very specific reason, for sin and
uncleanness. for seeing uncleanness. Salvation
of God. The salvation of God, friends,
listen, it's accomplished. There's no work needed, no merit
required. For all who enter into the fold
some other way are thieves and robbers, but all who come by
Jesus Christ alone shall be saved. And I know this, not all are
going to come. Not all are going to come. I'll tell you this, when you
first heard the Gospel, did you come immediately? I heard the
Gospel for many years before I actually heard it. I've heard
the preacher for many years before I actually heard him, before
I heard my shepherd's voice. And so today I preach the Gospel
that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. I tell you that there
are thieves and hirelings who profess Christ, They're not His sheep. He's the
shepherd and He loves His sheep. He loves His sheep. And listen,
as the good shepherd, listen to what He says, I lay down,
I give my life for who? The sheep. Doesn't that do away
with all free will, work, religion? I mean, it just does. He didn't
give His life for the sheep and the goats. Just for the sheep. Just for the sheep. He said, I came down from heaven
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him sent me. This
is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all He hath
given me, I should lose nothing. As a good shepherd, could He
hold the title of good shepherd if He loses any of His sheep?
No. He said, I am the Good Shepherd.
I lay down my life for the sheep. And as their Good Shepherd, none
of them shall be lost. None of them shall be lost. See,
this is sure that all the sheep of God shall be saved and none
lost because He is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. That is, He
is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus testified Remember that
man that said in him, good master, good master. You know what Jesus
said? There's not one good but God. That man didn't understand he
was God manifest in the flesh he's talking to. But when Jesus
says this, I am the good shepherd, what is he doing but declaring
his deity? Declaring that he is the good
shepherd, that he is God manifest in the flesh. He is the Shepherd
because He was chosen and commissioned of God for the care and salvation
of all the elect. In Isaiah chapter 40, it says,
Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand and His arms
shall rule for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him
and His work before Him. Isn't that Christ? He comes in
strength. Men see Him in weakness, but
He's in strength. His arm full of strength. His
reward with Him. His work before Him. What is
His work? His work is the salvation of His people. And listen, He
shall feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
His arms and carry them in His bosom. He shall gently lead those
that are with Yom. This is the gospel of the Good
Shepherd, that Jesus Christ came into the world to accomplish
their salvation by his death. And the scripture says, he shall
feed his flock. What does he feed us with? His flesh and his blood. He feeds
us with His flesh. Verily, except a man eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, he shall have no life
in Him. But whoso eateth My flesh and
drinketh My blood hath eternal life. What is that to eat His
flesh and drink His blood? What is it to feed His sheep?
It is to believe on Him. That's what it means. He says
in the previous verses of John 6, He says, I say unto you, he
that believeth on Me shall have everlasting life. And He was sent to die for His
sheep. Behold, the shepherd's death
upon the cross was no blind act of chance, no leap in the dark. The Good Shepherd said, I give
my life for the sheep. Look at verse 14. I am the Good
Shepherd, know my sheep, and am known of mine. He did not
blindly die. He knew who His sheep were and
He died for them. He laid down His life. In love
and grace, He offered Himself as a spotless Lamb for their
sin. And God imputed our sins to Him. And He willingly died with no
objections. Is that not a good shepherd? Do you suppose if there was any
that could have objected, it was Christ? did no sin. And yet, He was willingly made
sin for us. What a good Shepherd. What a
good Shepherd to lay down His life. The Gospel is preached
to all, but I'll tell you this, only the sheep are going to hear
His voice because the Shepherd calls them. Look at that. 3,
he says, "...the porter opened, and the sheep hear..." Who? "...the
shepherd's voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leadeth
them out." When the sinner is called of the Holy Spirit, he
sees his sin, he sees his need. He sees that the door is open,
and by grace he comes to Christ, only because he was called. Do you suppose Lazarus would
have ever come up out of the tomb if he wasn't called? Do you suppose you would have
ever come to Christ if you were not called? Make no mistake about it, when
the Good Shepherd calls His sheep, they hear. They hear Him. Isn't that why you came to Him? Him. You follow Him. You don't follow me. You follow
Him. He is the Shepherd. He is the
Good Shepherd and speaks. And our hearts were troubled
with our sins, for when He spake His voice, We come to Him, we
flee to Him. Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply
to Thy cross I cling. Naked come to Thee for dress.
Helpless look to Thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly. Watch
me, Savior, or I die. And everyone He calls, listen,
He will gather them. He said, I am the Good Shepherd,
know My sheep, and have known of Mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep,
and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them I
also..." What? He must pray. He must pray. Why? He's a good shepherd. He's a good shepherd. And the
last thing is this. The sheep. Who are the sheep?
Who are the sheep? We know that they are the elect
of God. We know they are the redeemed of Christ. We know that
they are called of Christ. How does one know if they are
His sheep? Simply this, do you believe on
the Son of God? Isn't that what He asked the
blind man that's at sight? Dost thou believe on Him? Listen,
it's not what you believe. Paul said this, I know whom. And I'm persuaded that if he
and I work together, we'll be... No. I'm persuaded that... Scott,
look at me. Crazy. Well, it would be crazy
to say something like that, right? I'm persuaded that if he is able...
to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. The
sheep are totally, absolutely, continually dependent upon the
Shepherd to lead us, to guide us, and to carry us to glory. That's who His sheep are. I tell you, as His sheep, sheep
are the dumbest animals you could possibly have. I've never seen
in a circus a sheep jump through a hoop. I just have their stupid. What a beautiful picture of us. How many times does she get in
trouble? All the time. Sometimes their wool grows so
fat and they grow so thick that they just flop over. They're
just laying on their back and they can't get up. You know,
when David said that, he said, O my soul, why art thou cast
down? He was talking about a cast sheep. When a sheep is cast,
it can't do anything. It can't right itself. And if
it's left on its back, it will die. I'm so glad we have a good sheep.
How many times I'm on my back and I can't fix it. I can't right
myself. I have this hope that He will
come and right me. That He will lift me up. He will care for me and guide
me in the glory. Why? Because I am His sheep. He is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me, libeth me in Christ
Jesus. He leadeth me beside the still
water. He restoreth my soul, leadeth
me in the path of righteousness for His namesake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for the Good Shepherd is with me. I'm His sheep. And He will carry
us to glory. Who among us that are His sheep,
when have you ever carried yourselves? Who carries us? Remember that
99 sheep? He said when He brings it in
His arms, He rejoices. They rejoiced with me! This one
that was lost is now found! He carries me all the way to
glory. So thankful for a good shepherd,
aren't you? Pray God bless this to you. Stand and be dismissed
in prayer.