John chapter 10. I guess if I had a title this
morning, it would be the door, the shepherd and the sheep. Very simply, I'll get that from
the text and you'll see it here very plainly. In chapter 10,
verse 1, the Lord Jesus Christ, after healing the man that was
born blind, He gives this parable and He says, Verily, verily,
truly, truly, 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. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger Will they not
follow, but will flee from him? For they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but, listen, they understood not what things they were which
he spake unto them. Here again, our Lord Jesus Christ
gives another parable. And this parable, we know, is
a simple story. A parable is a simple story that
everyone can easily understand. This was a common This thing,
this story that He puts forth here is very well known. Instead of having money, dollars
in a bank, at this time their money were sheep. They were farmers. And their money rests in their
livestock. And especially in this region,
sheep. And so He gives this parable, a very simple story on the surface. But truly, this parable has a
deeper meaning, a spiritual meaning. It's not just a moral tale. It's
not just something for us to entertain ourselves with a story.
It has a meaning. It has a purpose. And here, we
have a sheepfold, a fenced-in place where sheep are kept. And
in this parable, there's a man. Behold him. Look over there.
You see the sheepfold, a fenced-in area where they keep the sheep.
And you look over there at the side, and there's a man climbing
up over the fence, or digging down underneath, or
crawling through, drilling a hole. He's got one of those laser drillers,
you know, you see on the big spy movies. And he's drilling
a hole in the sheep fence. Jesus said, that guy's not the
shepherd, he's a thief. Without a doubt, that guy's a
thief. That guy's a robber. He's not the owner of the sheep,
but a thief and a robber. If this man were the shepherd,
he surely wouldn't have need to climb over the fence, would
he? He wouldn't have need to make a hole in the fence. Why? Because if he were the shepherd,
he'd go through the front door. He'd go through the front door.
He could walk in. And this porter that Jesus said,
to him the porter openeth. He said, but he that entereth
in by the door, well, we know this guy, he's the shepherd of
the sheep. He owns those sheep. And the
porter's a guard. And you know what the guard does
to the shepherd? He goes, oh, you're the shepherd.
He opens the door and allows the shepherd to go in. Why? He owns the sheep, they're his. And notice the shepherd enters
into this fold and he speaks to his sheep. And what does his
sheep do? They hear his voice. He speaks,
hello! And his sheep Their heads go
up and their ears go up. And they say, that's the shepherd. Now sheep are the dumbest animals
that ever lived. They are stupid animals. The
only thing they have that's smart about them is that they have
this understanding. They know who the shepherd is. And when they hear his voice,
they follow the shepherd. And so the shepherd goes in,
he calls his sheep. And he calls them by name. This
shows the affection of the shepherd. The shepherd is an affectionate
man and has a bond with his sheep. And he calls them by name. And
they go, they follow him. He calls them by name and leads
them through the door. to feed. Now, know this, those
sheep would never leave that sheepfold unless the shepherd
led them out the door. You can leave that door open
all you want to. The sheep will not go anywhere except the shepherd
call them and lead them out to green pastures. And notice
the picture, the shepherd calls his sheep He does not drive them. He does not beat them. He doesn't
have to. Because this is the nature of
the sheep and the nature of the shepherd in their union, their
connection, is that when the shepherd says, Hello, I'm here. And he calls his sheep by name.
He turns and he walks out the door. And what does his sheep
do? They follow right behind the shepherd. Everybody knows
this is how it's done. It's a very simple story, isn't
it? But, now then that thief and the robber, Jesus said that
stranger, listen, he can go in that and he can climb over the
fence and he can get in the sheepfold, but listen, they will not hear
his voice. They will know, they know that
he is a stranger and they will not follow him. So if he gets
them out, you know what he has to do? He has to beat them or
drive them out. He cannot Call them and lead
them. A stranger's voice, they won't
follow. And as I said to you, is that
not an easy, who didn't understand that? Anybody? I mean, because
that's just a simple story. Guy climbing over, thief, robber.
Guy going in the front door, shepherd. Shepherd calls his
sheep, turns around, follows them out. He leads them to pasture
and he puts them out to feed. He loves them, he cares for them.
The stranger cannot get them to do anything. He has to beat
them or steal them or kill them. So, it's a very simple story,
but truly this story has a deeper meaning than that. It has a spiritual
meaning. Therefore, Jesus in verse 7 begins
to explain to us the meaning of this story. I'm so glad He
doesn't leave things to our imagination. Don't you? Because we would all
have a... You know, this is why I preach
the gospel. I don't have opinion groups.
I just declare what God says. Because if we start having opinions
about this thing, we would have a hundred different opinions.
So really it doesn't matter about our opinions. It matters what
Jesus said this is. So He's going to tell us what
this is. And He gives us the meaning of this. In verse 7 He
says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, first of all, in this story
I am the door. I'm the door. All that came before me are thieves
and robbers But the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. I am the door of the sheep. The sheep here are pictured in
a pen, enclosed. unable to free themselves, and
the only opening in this sheepfold was one door, a gate. This is the only way in and out
of this place. A door. Behold, sinners, Jesus
Christ is the door of salvation. The door. From the beginning, from eternity,
or wherever the earth was, listen, God has purposed that there is
only to be one Savior for sinners. This religion has so much confusion. They say that, you know, when
Adam sinned, God was somehow taken by surprise, and He had
to come up with a plan. No, before there was ever sin,
God had already appointed a Savior. And that Savior is Jesus Christ,
the only way for sinners, the only Savior for sinners, the
only one by which the nakedness of sin is covered, even by Jesus
Christ alone. Jesus Christ alone is the only
door. You remember Adam and Eve, they
heard and believed the message. What was the message? What was
the message given to Eve and Adam? The seed of the woman shall
crush the head of the serpent. The seed of the woman, which
we know is Christ. Behold, I'll do a new thing.
A woman shall compass a man. A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. They believed
this message. that salvation should be through
the sacrifice of innocent blood. You realize they understood that?
They understood this, that if Satan and sin were to be crushed,
it was through a sacrifice. You know how we know that they
believed that? Because they taught it to their son. Remember Abel,
what did he do? He offered the sacrifice of an
innocent. instead of the guilty. This is a picture of God's salvation. And when God killed that animal
to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, that was a picture of
what He was sending Christ to do, His Son. And so when Abel offered that
sacrifice, it's a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ that
pardon for sin must be by the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
by faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain, even as
it pictured Christ. But I'll tell you this, when
Cain slew Abel, what did Abel's blood cry out for? Vengeance.
When God slew Jesus Christ, our Savior, in the stead of His people,
what does His blood cry out? Forgiveness! It speaks better
than Abel, doesn't it? His blood cries out for better
things. Pardon for sin. Justification. Sanctification.
Redemption. All of these things Christ's
blood cries out for. Moses and Israel offered that
Passover lamb to escape Egypt. Even so, it was a picture of
the blood of Jesus Christ to satisfy the justice of God. What's that song? When I see
the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. the Gospel, when the blood of
Christ is applied to the doorpost of our heart, guess what? God
passes over us, not unjustly, but seeing the blood, seeing
that there was a sacrifice for sin, He passes over us. Therefore, all the others who
came before Christ, all of those other men who claim to be Christ
before he came, he said, they're thieves and robbers. And listen,
any man who preaches any other gospel, any other door but Jesus
Christ is a minister of Satan. That's just all you can say.
They're a thief and a robber. How many ways are there to God? Jesus
said, I am not a door, the door. I am the door. There are no other
doors. There are no other ways to God.
And if you try to go to God in any other way, but through the
door, through Jesus Christ, if you're preaching any other gospel
save the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that man is
a liar, a thief, and a robber. I don't care what excuse he gives.
He's coming in another way. Coming over another way. Any other way to God but by the
blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. That man is no
doubt a thief and a robber. A robber of the glory of God. And the Apostle Paul in Romans
11, Romans 11, He makes this very plain. Look
at this with me in Romans 11. I want you to, by God's grace,
I want you to see that there's only two religions in all the
world. Works and grace. Romans 11 and verse 5. The apostle says, even so then, at
this present time, Also, there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
Do you not see? You can't mix these two. You
can't say it's part grace and part works. You can't say it's
part Christ and part my righteousness. By doing so, you have cut a hole
in the fence and you have come in another way. Salvation is
completely and absolutely by the free and sovereign mercy
of God through Jesus Christ alone. This is how sinners are saved.
There are no other ways. There is only one door. And Jesus
said, I am the door. If any man come in by Me. How is it that we come in to
God? By faith in Christ. By faith in Jesus Christ. I'll tell you, there are plenty
of people who desire to make another door. They say, well,
you know, Jesus Christ died for our sins. And so they say, Jesus,
well, He died for everybody's sins. And so therefore, I've
got to do something extra to get in. Because we know this,
not everybody gets in, right? Not everybody comes in. We know
there's a hell. And so then if Christ died for
everybody, then salvation must be something more than the blood
and righteousness of Jesus Christ. So what do they do? They say,
well, Jesus died, but I've got to exercise my will. I've got
to make the... He made the frame of the door,
but I need to craft the door of my own righteousness. No,
you're a thief and a robber if you do. There's only one door. There's only one Savior, Jesus
Christ. Christ is the only door, and
all attempts to make a new door are thieves and robbers. But
behold, Christ is the door of salvation. By me, if any man
enter in, he shall be saved. Isn't that a definite thing?
This is not a maybe situation. There's no ifs, ands, or buts
here. Go through Christ and you shall
be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That's the message. What a wonderful
message. But consider the picture. Consider the sheep fenced. There's one door in and
out. Say that someone comes and opens
the door. Will the sheep naturally leave? You say, sheep, here's the door. It's open. Come on out. Huh? Bah! What? Bah! They'll stay in there till
they die. Do you realize how stupid that
is? I tell you, believe on Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
And a lot of people just think, whatever. You know, you won't believe on
Christ until the Shepherd calls you. This is why Jesus Christ
is not only the door. He says this, I am the Good Shepherd
in verse 11. I am the Good Shepherd and giveth
his life for the sheep. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd,
and I know my sheep, and am known of mine. Jesus Christ is the
door of salvation. He is the only way, only Savior. Believe on Him and you will be
saved. But the sheep are ignorant, so that by nature man is ignorant. Man like sheep will never go
through the door of Christ. You can't drive them through
the door, you can't beat them through the door. They'll just lay down and die.
You know that's a sheep's defense mechanism? I like to learn a little bit
about sheep because it just reveals my character. When a sheep is
attacked, you know what his defense mechanism is? Lay down. Quit. Die. That's it. Now I can tell you of Christ.
I can declare, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. I can preach it ever so clearly.
I can describe the door to you in such great detail. But listen,
you will not by nature go through. You won't. He'll tell you that God raised
him from the dead, he's seated on the throne, and all who believe
on him shall be saved. But no man will ever by nature
come to Christ. Do you hear that? No man by nature
will ever come to Jesus Christ. Flip over a couple pages, Jesus
said this to these men. He already told them this. John
chapter 6, verse 44. Well, actually, in verse 37,
Jesus, speaking of His salvation, said, All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. What a wonderful message! I will in no wise cast out anyone
who comes to me. But they began to murmur about
this. They said, How is He saying, I'm the bread that came down
from heaven? Verse 43, don't murmur. Jesus said, Why are you
arguing? Why are you complaining? No man
can come to me. Now, you don't need to be an
English scholar to understand can has to do with ability. No
man is able to come to me. I think of Mephibosheth, who
was lame on both his feet. David commanded him to come.
But you know what? He couldn't come unless David
fetched him. No man by nature can come to
Christ except what? The Father which has sent me,
draw Him. Draw Him. This is the work of
God. I remember reading this message
before. A whosoever will gospel in a
world of whosoever won't. Man by nature just won't. Now
I do believe whosoever will. I believe God saves whosoever
will. I just don't believe God saves whosoever won't. And man by nature just won't.
They won't come. They won't come. How then can
men come to Christ? Seeing the door, He is the only
door by which men are saved. Seeing that no man can come to
God and believe on Jesus Christ by nature, how then do the sheep
come and are saved? Because Jesus is not only the
door, He is the shepherd. I preach to you, whosoever will. Listen, whosoever will. You will believe? Then come, come to Christ. And you will be saved. All the
while, I know this, that if you ever come at all, it's because
the shepherd called you. Do you get that? You see who's getting the glory
for this, right? You see who's getting all the glory for this?
The Lord Jesus Christ. I can preach the gospel to you
forever, and no man will ever come Until he hears the voice
of Jesus Christ You see this is why I don't try
to trick men into coming I Tell you when you believe on
Jesus Christ listen your life is going to turn upside down
and everything is going to be painful and See, I'm not gonna trick you.
I don't wanna tell you everything's gonna be rosy when you believe
in Christ. It's going to be painful. Your friends will hate you. Neighbors
will despise you. Your family will disown you. See, but I don't care about them.
Why? Because I've heard my shepherd's
voice. I don't care about their voice.
They're a stranger to me. I don't hear them and I don't
follow them. I have heard the voice of my Shepherd. He has
called me and He has called me by name. And you know what I did? I came. Now who gets the glory? My willingness
to come or the One who called me? The One who called me. I never would have come had He
not called me. Ever. Ever. You know, Jesus is the
good shepherd. And listen, the porter openeth
the hymn. I like this, because this shows
us he's the shepherd because he fulfilled all Scripture. The
porter is the Holy Spirit in this text. He's the guard of
this door. Nobody can claim to be the door
or the shepherd, except he fulfill all of the Old Testament Scriptures
that speak of Christ. Jesus said, beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, he expounded unto them all things in the scriptures,
listen, concerning himself. You know the Holy Spirit never
points you to himself? People are getting all excited
in religion about Holy Spirit revivals and Holy Spirit this.
You know what, if the Holy Spirit is preaching himself, it's not
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit points you to
Christ. And the Holy Spirit opens the door and says, this is the
Christ. This is the Shepherd. Hear Him. Hear Him. And what was the purpose of the
good shepherds coming into the world? Listen, verse 11, to give
His life for the sheep. Verse 12, Therefore doth the
Father love me because I lay down my life for the sheep. Man by nature has fallen into
depravity and sin and can by no means save himself. Listen, you and I are just flat
out guilty. How can guilt be removed? Can you think of one example
by which a man who is guilty actually has his guilt removed?
See, now you can have a man that's guilty of murder and you could
take his place in the electric chair. Now, you might satisfy
the law, the letter of the law, but one thing you couldn't do
is take away his guilt. You couldn't take his guilt.
He was guilty. But the miracle of Christ is that God took our
guilt and imputed our guilt to His
only beloved Son on the tree. The Scripture says He bore in
His body our sins. He was made a curse for us. And when God poured out His justice,
what does the Old Testament Scripture say? Awake, O sword, and smite... Who? The shepherd. The shepherd,
the man, the man that is my fellow, the God-man, Jesus Christ. See, the good shepherd suffered
for the sins of his sheep. He died so as to blot out their
transgression. Blot it out. I like that word,
blot. It means to absolutely cover. It's like you have a ledger that's
red, full of debt, and you were to pour a gallon of ink over
the top of that page. Where not one mark could ever
be seen again. He blots out our transgressions. In Isaiah 44, verse 22, He says,
I have blotted out as a thick cloud. thy transgression, and
as a cloud thy sins. Here is call, return unto me,
for I have redeemed thee. This is the gospel message. This
is the one he is called. Behold, the shepherd calls to
those who have need of their sins being blotted out. You know, I tell you of Jesus
Christ and his free forgiveness and mercy, and yet people won't
come. You know why? You don't need it. You won't come because you don't
need it. You know who needs it? Sinners. Not just those who've
done bad things. Not just those. I'm talking about
complete sinners. Absolute sinners. You know what? I am an absolute sinner. There
is nothing I've ever done in my entire life that is worthy
of God's acceptance. I need complete free mercy. And you know what I found? Complete
free mercy. That's who needs it. And so when
Jesus calls his sheep by name, you know what name He calls them
by? Sinner. Sinner! Yes, Lord, that's me. I'm coming. I'm coming. Sinner. He calls
us by name. He says, Sinner, come. And what
do sinners do? They hear His voice. and they follow him. In other words, they go through
the door. See the picture that Jesus gave?
The shepherd comes in, he says, sinners, follow me. Turns around, walks through the
door, and he has a trail. Sheep. following Him right through
what? The door, the door of salvation,
which is Himself. He is the door. Have you heard the voice of Christ? You know how you know you've
heard the voice of Christ? You follow Him. What does it mean to follow Him?
It means to believe on Him. That's what it is. To follow
Him is to follow Him by faith. That is the grace that comes
with life, is faith. How do I know if I've heard His
voice if you believe on Him alone? Have you by faith forsaken all
your self-righteousness? Have you forsaken all your vain
hopes of decisional and worked salvation? Have you trusted in
Jesus Christ completely alone? Then you follow Him. Then you
follow Him. If you do believe on Christ,
it is because you have heard His voice, it is because He has
called you. And listen, now that I'm going
to talk to you sheep who do know Him, who do follow him, listen, you are his sheep. In other words, he owns us. Now what the parable said, he
calls his own sheep. Who does he call? His own sheep. Does he call anyone else? No,
just his. You know who follows Him? Just
His. He owns us. Notice the parable, His own sheep.
Believer, let us take comfort in this truth that we belong
to Jesus Christ. Listen, I'm going to tell you
three ways you belong to Christ. You belong to Him by gift, by
purchase, and by calling. By gift. Go over here and look
down at the end of this at verse 28, I mean 27. Jesus says, My
sheep hear My voice, 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. Listen, My Father which
gave them Me. So how are we His sheep? We're
His by gift. The Father gave us to Christ. When was this? When were you
given sheep? When were you given to Christ?
Before the foundation of the world. You were chosen of the
Father, loved of God, and given to Jesus Christ. I'll show it to you. Ephesians
1. Ephesians 1. Oh, this is a precious thing. Blessed be, verse 3, the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. See, our salvation was purposed
of God before the world began. We were chosen of the Father,
given to the Son to be holy and righteous, and that by the Son
we should be made holy and righteous. And so we were given. This is
what we call election. Back over in John chapter 17,
in our Lord's Prayer, He says this, of these elect, John 17, he says
in verse 2, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that
he should give eternal life to who? As many as thou hast given
him. Who's he going to give eternal
life to? As many as the Father gave him. That's it. Those who
are his by gift. He gives them eternal life, his
sheep. One lady was confused about this
election, predestination business, and she went to a pastor and
she says, you know, I know the difference between our religion
and yours is that you believe in election, predestination. She said, I don't understand.
And he asked a simple question. He said, sweetie, did God save
you on accident or on purpose? And she said, well, on purpose.
He said, that's predestination, that's election. God purposed
to save us. And His purposes are eternal
purposes. He gave us. in the eternal covenant
of grace to His Son. Now, second of all, we were His
by purchase. He bought us, not with the carnal
riches, not by with silver or gold, but the Apostle says, with
His own precious blood, He bought us. You see, we were enslaved
in sin and He redeemed us out of Our sin. He redeemed us. Not from Satan. He redeemed us from God's justice. We were under the curse of the
law. And He redeemed us from under the curse of the law. He
bought us with His own blood. He died for our sins. Rose again
for our justification. He owns us. We're His. See, I
didn't even know it. I didn't know I was His gift.
I didn't know that I was bought with the blood of Christ. Not
until when? Until He called me. You see,
this now begins our understanding of this. We enter into this knowledge
of the covenant only after He calls us by the Holy Spirit.
But all of these things were done before we were called, weren't
they? But now we're able to enter in. How can I know my election?
Well, have you heard his voice? He said, my sheep hear my voice.
I know them and they follow me. And listen, I give unto them
eternal life. When does eternal life begin? It never had a beginning. And
listen, it never has an end. He gives us eternal life. Eternal life. He calls us. He saves us. He quickens us. He redeems us. Who then will ever take us away
from our shepherd? Who? Look at what Jesus said. He said,
I've given them eternal life, verse 28, and they shall never
perish. Do you get that? When are they
going to perish? Never. You ain't going to perish. Ever. This old body will die, but you'll
never perish. And listen, as long as you are
in this world, no one will pluck you out of His hand. Do you see that? He said, no
one, no one is able to pluck them out of My hand. The Father
which gave them Me is greater than all, and no one is able
to pluck Him out of His hand. Do you not see how doubly secure
we are? The hand of Christ is around
us. The hand of the Father is around Him. Who in the world
will ever cause us to lose our salvation? Nobody and nothing. This is how sure our salvation
is. Well, I don't feel saved. Who cares how you feel? Your feelings have nothing to
do with this. You got that? Nothing. I love
to feel saved. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy His
presence when I can feel it. I enjoy the joy that comes with
His presence. I love that. But friends, that's not my salvation.
My salvation is in the eternal covenant of grace in Christ.
And it's never going to be removed. That's what He tells us by this.
The Father gave us, and nobody is going to pluck us out of our
hands. We are His own sheep by the irresistible
effectual calling of the Spirit, and nobody will take us away
from Him. You know, when He called me,
this was not a decision. Do you think when the shepherd calls
his sheep, he's asking for a decision? No. He says, my sheep, come. Just like he said to Lazarus,
Lazarus, if you would pretty please, if
you want to, would you please rise from the dead? Oh, no. That's not how my master speaks. Lazarus, get up. And Lazarus got up. Sinner, believe on me and be
saved. Not a decision, a necessity. I must believe on the Son of
God. And notice what Jesus says about
this calling. Go back to your text, look at
this real quickly. I'm going to close out here. Jesus said
this in verse 16, Other sheep I have of this, which are not
of this fold, them I also must bring, and they shall hear my
voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Is there
any doubt that he'll call his sheep? Is there any doubt his
sheep will come? No, no doubt at all. He said,
them I must bring. And you know what? He will bring
them, He will call them, and they will come. This is why I
have confidence in preaching the gospel. Because it's not
in my power to do anything. It's all in His power. And in His time, He calls His
people. Otherwise, I'm just here to be faithful. Preach the Word
in season when it's popular, when it's not. reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all long-suffering impatience, knowing this, that
God who promised is faithful." He doesn't lie. He's not a man
that he should lie. He's going to call his sheep,
and they're going to come. Have you come? Now listen, not
all men, I want you to understand this, Not all men are His sheep. There are some that Christ doesn't call sheep,
but rather goats. Now the difference is revealed
in this truth, only the sheep will hear His voice and obey
the shepherd, the goats will not. The goats will not. Look over in verse 26. Jesus
talking to these who would not believe. Listen to what He said.
Oh, verse 25, He said, I told you, and you believe not. The works that I do in My Father's
name, they bear witness of Me. He healed a man that was born
blind. Never been done before, ever, in the history of man.
And there he was. He said, that work bears witness
of me that I'm the Christ, but you believe not because you are
not of my sheep. Now notice it's not reversed.
He didn't say, you're not my sheep because you don't believe. He said, you don't believe because
you're not my sheep. Listen, no matter how hard a
man tries to be, how much a goat tries to be a sheep, he'll never
be a sheep. And you can dress up a sheep,
a goat, and make it look like a sheep. Surely goats eat with
sheep. But you know the difference?
The difference is the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd. The
goats do and go where they want to. The sheep love the shepherd's
voice. Goats don't care. They don't believe. And you that
believe not, listen, if you die in such a condition, you'll find
out that truly you were never his to begin with. There's a
day coming when there's going to be a great division made.
Jesus said in that day, he will say he will gather his sheep
on his right hand and the goats on his left hand. And He will
say to His sheep, those given to Him by the Father, redeemed
by His blood, called by the Spirit of God, come and enjoy the kingdom
of heaven prepared for you from before the foundation of the
world. And they said, why Lord? Why would we be accepted? He said, because I've made you
accepted. I've done everything for you.
But he says to the goats, you go away into eternal darkness.
And the goats will say, Lord, when did we not do all these
great things for you? When did we not deserve to be
entered into your glory? Even in the end and facing hell,
they stick their fist into God's face and said, you owe it to
me. And you know what he'll say?
Depart from me, you that work iniquity. So all they thought
was righteousness, Jesus said, was nothing but iniquity, and
they'll be forever cast out. Behold, Jesus is the door. If any man enter in by him, he
shall be saved. How will you enter in and out? Only by the voice of the shepherd. And if you have believed, all
the glory belongs to the shepherd. We are his by gift, we are his
by purchase, and we are his by calling, and no one will pluck
us out of his hand. Now, I pray the shepherd would
tell you that. And if he speaks, Oh my goodness, what comfort
he gives. My sheep, my sheep, my sheep,
hear my voice. I pray that you will. I pray
that God give you such faith to believe. Let's stand. We'll
be dismissed in prayer.